A Meeting of Two
by Vergial2
Summary: My first try at a Romance story with plenty of aid from the talented Alex. He's been a fantastic help. Obviously, this whole thing is a story set in the Pokemon universe. Just sit back, enjoy the story. Comments are appreciated, :B
1. Opening

**A/n: So far, this little thingamabob has been added shortly after the addition of Chapter 07 to AMoT. Any 'changes' to this will be appended to the top of any other new chapters, so you needn't worry about missing anything important.**

**First off, I find it absolutely necessary to yet AGAIN thank Alex for his help in writing this. I couldn't have possibly picked a more fun co-writer (I feel bad saying CO-writer, I think I'll just refer to him as my Second Author). Without him, I can EASILY say this whole endeavor would have never been. Many many thanks to him for this.**

**Second, many thanks to my Deviantart fans as well. Rooting me on as often as they do is what pushes me (and possibly Alex) to keep this up, and HOLY COW do I love it.**

**So, that'll be all for now. Thanks for reading, and kindly leave reviews as you see fit. Constructive criticism futuwuh!**

* * *

Flames erupted, burning bright and casting hellish orange lights onto every surface nearby. The sound of metal twisting and melting in the extreme heat as well as the sounds of the erupting flames dominated the immediate area. No other sound escaped this small piece of Hell. Reggie smiled to himself before the spectacle. Just another day at the smelter.

He glanced back at his holodisplay and noticed that pressure in one of the pipes was increasing steadily. Some swift taps on his display (or rather, the air the display was in) quickly regulated the pressure to acceptable standards. Another pile of metal flopped onto the conveyor belt at an awkward angle, but this set seemed a little large for one drop into the furnace. He leaped onto the conveyor and strolled to the pile, separating as much as he could. Several large sheets needed to be thrown behind the original pile as well as a few smaller (but equally heavy) bars.

"Must you constantly climb onto the belt," came a voice from behind him, obviously on the floor. Reggie turned around and looked down at his Supervisor, a Mewtwo, as the 'Two walked the floor alongside him.

"Only when crap like this happens, my man." Reggie shoved another bar to the new pile and glanced over the pile. One more thing needed moving, and he dug in immediately.

"Every time you do this I have to worry about your life, Reggie. What if you get snagged by a piece of junk? Personally, I find you to be better off as human rather than molten slag."

Reggie laughed as he threw the final chunk to the side and leaped off of the conveyor. "It hasn't happened yet, Aturiel, and I doubt it will. I gotta make do with manpower, my friend. I don't have your distinct advantage."

The first pile of metal fell into the smelter with a loud clash and an uprising of fire that wasn't quick to fall.

"I can still transfer you somewhere safer. Besides, I'd rather not have a death on my hands."

"Hey, I can do things just as well as anyone else. I just have different methods, that's all."

The second pile fell in, reviving the fires with a loud bang.

"But you don't _need_ to use more dangerous methods," yelled Aturiel over the explosion, "you can still be transferred somewhere safer."

Reggie patted his Supervisor on the shoulder before turning to the holodisplay again, quickly tapping away to regulate pressure once more.

"You're right, I don't need to. But that's no reason for me not to." The 'Two laughed and stood beside Reggie.

"You're a valued worker, forgive me for caring about your life."

"Forgiven," Reggie replied with a laugh as well. "Go on, I'll be fine Aturiel. You need to pester other people, not me. I have to watch the display."

"Alright, alright. See you before your shift is up then."

"See ya." The 'Two turned and went back to his office as Reggie was left to his work. Shortly after, his replacement, another 'Two, came in and Reggie went to the office to get his stuff before leaving.

"That was fast, Reggie," said the 'Two as he looked at him. "Your relief arrived already?"

"Yea, he looked eager to continue my job."

"At least he won't be putting his life in danger," chuckled the Supervisor.

"You won't find anyone as dedicated as me, my man," said Reggie with a laugh. "But I must be going."

He threw his jacket on, flipped the hood up over his Montalbo Cap that he rarely took off, and walked out the door. Rain again, as if that was a surprise. He made his way to the underground train station, his method of transportation home and hopped on the train just before it left.

* * *

As soon as he left the train and entered the streets above, the rain began to harass him once again. He fixed his hood and pushed on across the streets and sights and sounds of busy town life, dodging cars, humans, Pokemon, and 'Twos alike. It wasn't long, however, before he finally reached the building that contained his condo. He pressed his ID card up against the front door sensor and walked in, giving the single security guard a quick polite nod as he passed. The elevator ride up to the seventh floor where he lived was fast as usual, the grav-lift system hummed soothingly as it quickly pulled him up to the proper height. The doors hissed open and he hummed tunelessly as he walked down the hallway toward his room. He pressed his thumb against the fingerprint scanner, and after beeping for a few seconds the computer unlocked his door. Reggie grunted at how slow the system seemed to be getting and turned the knob, pushing his door open.

The first to greet him was Tiger, his Growlithe. This Pokemon had a small whitish mane around his neck and tiger-like markings all down his body, hence the name. Reggie leaned down and stroked the overly-excited Pokemon. "Hey Tiger, missed ya too. Where's everyone else?"

Tiger barked and followed him upstairs to the highest room—his favorite room to think and sleep in. He opened the door and saw the rest of his team gathered in there. He quickly surveyed the room, seeing it in excellent condition.

On his bed lie Blaze, his Blaziken, a sort of bipedal, kickboxing rooster. Red fur covered the majority of his body, the exception being the white chest fur. The Pokemon turned over to look towards Reggie, a small smile forming on the side of his face at the corner of his beak. "Welcome home, Reggie."

Blaze had a sort of whistle to his speech, a side-effect of having a beak. Reggie looked upon his long-time friend since he was only a year old and nodded his greeting. At the foot of the bed lie a sleeping Luxray. Reggie made his way over to the creature and sat next to her. She only stirred slightly before going back to sleep. He chuckled and hugged the beast.

"Luxtra, time to get up, girl." His Luxray immediately stretched her powerful limbs with a loud yawn, almost more of a roar, then proceeded to turn on her back revealing her blueish stomach for a belly rub that Reggie immediately indulged in. She began to purr as Reggie rubbed her stomach and yellow-striped forelegs rapidly.

There was a tugging at his pants then, and he looked down at his Glaceon, Nadien. Apparently, he wanted a spot on Reggie's lap, so Reggie opened the spot for him and he promptly leaped on. His Glaceon was cold to the touch, but not numbingly so, so Reggie was more than able to satisfy the two creatures easily. His Mudkip, named Kip, was busy getting tangled in the wires for whatever reason. Reggie laughed as soon as he found her and stood up (to Nadien's dismay) to rescue the creature.

Blaze jumped off of the bed so that Reggie could finally sprawl and get a nap after the day's work, and Reggie quickly did so.

"If you're getting sick again, you know Amanda will not be happy," said Blaze, a whistle here and there.

"That never ceases to amuse me," said Reggie, his face buried in his pillow as he raised a hand and pointed at Blaze. Blaze chuckled slightly.

"It's not my fault I've got a speech impediment. That qualifies as a low-blow."

"I'm not getting sick."

"So you say every time that you do."

"I'll be fine, Blaze."

"I would hope so."

Reggie rolled onto his back as Blaze sat next to him. Luxtra made herself comfortable on Reggie's feet, somehow enjoying the limbs pressing into her stomach. Glaceon and Kip left the room to get food from their respective bowls, and Reggie guessed that Tiger was already there.

"You get sick almost every week, Reggie. It worries me."

"I appreciate the concern, Blaze, really I do. But I always get better, don't I?"

"That you do. But that's no excuse to keep it up."

Reggie grunted and turned his head towards the window and the view outside. The window was perfectly placed. High enough to see over the concrete walls around the city, and oriented just right to see the farm domes outside the city and the grassland beyond. It calmed him every time he looked, though he didn't know why. He didn't much care for why either.

"Having you throw up all over the place isn't a fun sight, Reg."

"It's a small price to pay."

"Reggie, don't be so stubborn. You can be healthy AND be great." Blaze was almost angry suddenly, and Reggie felt bad about making his good friend even slightly angry.

"Sorry, Pal. You're right, I know you are. But it's habit. I'll always end up pushing myself as hard as possible, and I'll end up sick again." His friend sighed quietly.

"You can curb your tendency, Reg. It'll take work, but you can do it." Reggie leaned back and closed his eyes, unable to roll over due to Luxtra.

"I can do anything I put my mind to. I know. You've given me this speech so many times."

"And?"

"And I'm glad you look out for me, Blaze."

"That's not the answer I'm looking for, Reggie." Reggie did not reply. Blaze looked over at his trainer and friend and realized he had fallen asleep. Blaze got up with a chuckle and made his way out of the room and downstairs to ready food for later, leaving Luxtra and Reggie asleep.


	2. The Breakup

Reggie woke up with Luxtra still asleep on his feet. He smiled as he thought to himself how blessed he was to have pets (more friends than pets, he reminded himself) such as these. He was afraid to get up, not wanting to wake Luxtra up but Blaze had burst into the room, waking her anyway. She shot up in a huff and growled slightly as she purposely bumped Blaze on her way out.

"Way to go Blaze," said Reg with a laugh.

"Sorry Luxtra!" yelled Blaze down the hall before turning back to Reggie. "You've been out for about two hours now, Reg." Reggie stretched as much as he could.

"Why is that a problem?"

"I made some food for you and Amanda, that's why. Get up!" Blaze finished, laughing. Reggie was up in an instant.

"Amanda is here? When did she arrive?!"

"Not long ago. C'mon." Reggie followed Blaze as he lead him down a flight of steps to the dining room. There sat Amanda, munching at a meatloaf that Blaze had apparently made.

"Hey sweetheart, sorry I'm late." Reggie, who had forgotten he had his jacket on yet, hung it on the back of his chair across from Amanda and grabbed a plate as Blaze served the food.

"No worries," said Amanda. "Blaze cooks really well!"

"And my cooking sucks, so he's best left to do it." Reggie laughed and took a few more bites. "How was your day so far?"

"It was slow, boring really." Blaze sat next to Reg and began to eat as well while the other four Pokemon ate from their bowls.

"Nothing at all happened?"

"Not much, really. I went for a walk, that's about it. How about your day? You worked today, right?" She wiped her mouth with a cloth and finished up her plate.

"Yea, more of the same. Aturiel worries too much."

"Well I don't blame him. I know the stunts you pull."

"They're not stunts so much as...necessary activities. I don't have psychic powers like most of the workers."

"Then _transfer_ before you get killed." Amanda was now seemingly angry, but Reggie wouldn't back down.

"I can't. I don't know if any other position pays well--"

"You can ask, Reggie!"

"I can ask, but I like what I do! I'm not gonna get myself killed." Blaze tapped Reggie's leg lightly with a claw. Reggie didn't need to look to know that Blaze was getting rather uncomfortable, as was the rest of his team. "I've got better things to do than die, Amanda. You don't have to worry."

"Yes, I do Reginald."

"MUST you call me that," asked Reggie, unable to keep from smiling. Amanda apparently ignored the good humor.

"Look at you, you say I don't need to worry but you get sick on every day off so far. You push yourself too hard, and it's costing you your health." Blaze then got up and left the table, apparently to wash his dish.

"I'll try to fix it, okay?"

Blaze coughed loudly.

"Shut up over there, you." Reggie laughed despite himself and Blaze chuckled as well, though inaudibly.

"I'd hope."

Reggie got up and got his jacket back on. "I'm gonna let Luxtra out. You wanna tag?"

"Sure."

They left the apartment together and walked down the hall over to the grav-lifts. Reg made sure to stroke each of his Pokemon in turn (excepting Blaze, of course, who got a pat on the shoulder) before leaving, and Luxtra trailed close behind as they left. They smoothly dropped to ground level and eventually made their way to the back doors of the building. After nodding to the guard at the door and making their way out onto the street, the three of them turned a corner and headed towards the city limits. Luxtra affectionately nibbled Reggie's hand and took off towards the city gate once they were in visual range. Amanda hadn't been back here in awhile, and she scowled when she saw the giant, house-sized plasma cannon that was being built. Next to the cannon were several Mewtwos, all standing silently and concentrating on using their psychic powers on the construction task at hand. Amanda's look could only be described as mortified.

"What is THIS for?!" she asked, angry all over again.

Reggie looked at the massive cannon as well, taking in its features. It was truly large, easily the size of a small household. It was built on a rotating base, the cannon barrel itself being a rough cylindrical shape with a large modular base, and was tall enough to point out over the outer wall. Cables and other sensitive electrical equipment were hovering up to it and installing themselves under the power of the Mewtwos that were orchestrating the construction. It was so large that the road had to be torn up and re-built around it. Reg sighed, knowing that Amanda was never fond of weapons to begin with, let alone a cannon of such power.

"It's an evil necessity, I guess you can call it," Reggie said slowly and carefully.

"It isn't necessary at all!" she yelled back.

"Amanda, you never know if we'll be attacked. Wouldn't you rather we be ready if there were a surprise attack?"

"But WHO would attack us? We're peaceful here, these cannons are gonna be WHY we are attacked!"

"You know how much tension has been arising between K'telle and the other nations lately! And That last part is a bit of a hypocritical thing to say, considering the States has their own defenses as well, Amanda."

"What?!" Clearly, that wasn't the best thing to say. Reggie cringed as Amanda began gesturing angrily towards the cannon, throwing her fists as she spoke. "That gives us no right to try and antagonize other countries to attack us!"

"We aren't antagonizing them! It's for our own defense!"

"No one will attack us!"

"And what if you're wrong?"

"I won't be!"

"How can you believe that? Anything at all can happen in any amount of time, Amanda!"

"Because of these damn things!"

"No, not because of those things, those things may be what SAVES us in the future! How do YOU know what'll happen, huh? You DON'T know what'll happen, you aren't psychic! Not even the Mewtwos who run this city can see very far or very clearly either, and they ARE psychic!"

"Reggie, I can't do this anymore!"

Instantly, Reggie regretted everything he said. In no time at all, he was floundering for words. "We argue about EVERYTHING anymore, and I'm sick of it! This can't work, not like this!"

"Amanda, I'm sorry, you know I didn't mean it--"

"No, Reggie, you aren't sorry. You'll just do it all over again if I change my mind. I'm done, it's not gonna work. It'll be better for both of us." She turned slowly and began to walk away.

"Amanda!" She whirled around again, furious.

"Shut up, Reggie!" And she turned and ran.

* * *

Reggie had penned a simple date in his journal that night: May 29th, 2283. He hadn't the strength to write any more than that. He wanted to rip the tear-stained page out, but he decided against it. He sat alone in his dark room, curled up sitting on his bed, looking out his window. The only sounds that occupied him were the sounds of construction as the 'Two's resumed their hard work on the cannon that had caused the mess. Blaze had left some warm soup on his bedside table. It gave Reg a small smile that he had to pick out a bit of fur.

He leaned on his window sill, his head on his wrists, as he overlooked the grassy outland. A small sigh escaped his lips, though it wasn't heard over the construction. His door slid open with a hiss, then shut shortly after. The fact that nothing was said told him immediately that it wasn't Blaze. The gentle nip at his hand told him the rest: Luxtra was his visitor. She leaped up onto the bed and rested her head on Reggie's lap before purring loudly. His hand slid to her mane absently, gently stroking her thick fur.

"Hey girl," he whispered. She looked up at him and grabbed his left hand, dragging it to her mouth as she began to lick it softly. Reggie chuckled emptily. "Thanks, you." He buried his face between her ears and sobbed for a few seconds until the door hissed open once more.

"Reg?" Blaze had come to visit yet again.

"Alive." Again, he sounded emotionless and empty. His longtime friend walked over and stood behind him.

"Barely, it seems."

"Just trying to hold myself together, Blaze," said Reggie with a long sigh. Luxtra was still licking at his hand, apparently rather content with her contribution.

"Well, for starters, you gotta get your mind off of her."

"How do you propose I do that?"

"Visit a strip club?" Reggie laughed a little—this time with feeling. "There, it always starts with a true smile."

"Blaze?"

"Yes, Reggie?" Blaze had that odd smile on again, though Reg couldn't tell.

"You're a pain."

"Thank you for the compliment." Blaze bowed low and Reg laughed again silently but, again, with feeling. Reggie gave Luxtra a squeeze as the Pokemon continued to lick at his hand. As if sensing his rising mood, she quickly nipped at Reggie's nose gently, then licked the side of his face.

"You're a pain too, Luxtra," said Reggie with another laugh. "I love you guys."

Blaze faked a choked-up voice as he replied, "I'm touched!" Blaze stepped closer and realized that Reggie was crying pretty hard suddenly. "Aw jeez, Reg, that wasn't supposed to happen..."

Reggie wrapped one arm around Luxtra, the other around Blaze, and rested his face against Blaze's shoulder as the Pokemon slowly stroked Reggie's back. Luxtra murred in her usual deep voice and pressed against Reggie.

"Jeez, Reg, I never thought I'd see you this broken up," said Blaze sadly. "It ain't like you."

"I hadn't expected to lose my first girl so fast," said Reggie between sobs. Then, with a sort of chuckle, he added, "I guess I must suck pretty bad." Even blaze chuckled slightly.

"You don't suck. She's missin' out. Leaving you over something so stupid, it's HER mess."

"She was right, though," explained Reggie, "that we fight more often than not."

"And you know something, Reggie?"

"I know lots of things, Blaze." Reggie was now looking his friend in the eye. "But not enough."

"Reggie," began Blaze, "I think you've learned something today. I think you've finally learned why there are things you must change. I think you've learned that there are things about yourself you need to change." Reggie looked down at his lap, unsure of what to say. "I have this feeling...this feeling that what has transpired today has given you a new resolve." Reggie shook his head slowly, but Blaze cut him off before he could speak. "You won't notice it right away, not until you've calmed yourself. But trust me, my friend, something in you has changed today." Reggie gave both Luxtra and Blaze another squeeze before letting go and lying flat on his back on his bed.

Several silent seconds passed before Reggie finally spoke.

"Maybe you're right, Blaze."

"I've only known you for how long now?" Blaze chuckled and sat himself on the floor next to the bed. "I know you better than you think."

"That's a scary thought." Luxtra stretched and crawled beside Reggie, then rolled so her back pressed on his side. He'd never understand how that silly Luxray could be comfortable with the ways she chose to sleep.

"Scarier than you know," replied Blaze with a laugh. "You rest, alright?"

"Alright, Blaze, I will. Like I have a choice now," he asked as he pointed to the sleeping lion-like creature. Blaze laughed once more and tucked the both of them in.

"How do I always get the role of mother?"

"Because you look out for me like the rest of these loonies that run around my house."

"And you didn't do the same for us?"

"Yea...I did, didn't I?" Reggie sounded tired, and he usually was quick to fall asleep.

"You raised us well, my friend. I couldn't have chosen a better trainer out of anyone alive." Blaze looked upon Reggie and laughed, realizing, finally, that whenever he had something touching to say, Reggie would be asleep before he could finish saying it. Blaze shook his head and began to leave, stopping as the door hissed open and Tiger, Nadien, and Kip all came rushing in to find places to sleep. "I'll be back guys," he whispered, "save a spot for me."

* * *

It was now early morning, and Reggie was already off for work. Blaze had called a 'meeting' for the other Pokemon in the household. He had found a blank bit of paper lying around, and he had folded it in half. On the front, he wrote "to our trainer". On the opposite side of the first half, he wrote "our best friend", and "Thanks for always being there!" on the facing side. Nothing adorned the back.

Blaze had located some colored paint and laid it out for the pokemon. All of them chose a color, pressed a paw in it, and then pressed it to the makeshift card. Blaze simply wrote his name on the second half. Luxtra's paw took up the majority of the first half, so Blaze needed to rewrite that section. He found it amusing for whatever reason. He left it closed on the table in Reggie's bedroom, as a surprise for when he came home. Everything was cleaned up (including the new pink pawprints all over the place from Growlithe) and they resumed their usual activities.


	3. A Pleasant Surprise

Reggie had to admit to himself that he still felt down about the breakup. It wasn't even much of a relationship, he had to keep telling himself. It was his first, there was bound to be a breakup.

But then again, he reminded himself, it was true that they mainly fought. Usually about stupid subjects as well.

He shook his head and snapped out of the stupor just in time to see a pretty decent pressure buildup that he quickly corrected. He sighed and rolled his eyes as he silently scolded himself for his stupidity and ordered himself to get back 'in the game'. He noticed several pieces of metal along the floor beside the conveyor, and he guessed that during his mental blackout that something had spilled over.

He picked each piece up and tossed it back onto the conveyor, moving to dump some more metal in place. This also made a mess on the floor, and he promptly cleaned it up before returning to his post to regulate pressure again. It wasn't long before his mind began to wander again.

* * *

"What's up," Aturiel asked as he sat Reggie in a chair on the opposite side of the desk in his office.

"Nothing, why?" Aturiel glared at Reggie for a second before Reggie spoke again. "Right. Psychic."

"Tell me the truth."

"Why don't you dig it out, Aturiel? You probably already have."

"I want to be able to trust you to not lie to me."

"Aturiel, please," said Reggie, trying to keep his voice from cracking, "you know what happened. It hurts."

"It's affecting your ability to work, Reggie."

"I'll be able to pay the loan off, I swear," began Reggie, panicking, "I'll pick everything back up--" Aturiel cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"Reggie, the loan on your condo is _not_ what I'm worried about. I know you'll be able to pay us back." Reggie stared at Aturiel, relaxing only slightly. "Your ability to work is suffering, I know I said that, but I _mean_ that your safety is affected by that. You're still pushing yourself in that rather dangerous way of yours, and if your mind is away from the job, if your mind is wandering to that girl who _clearly_ has no idea what she's letting slip away, then something is gonna happen, and I _really_ don't want to think of the results."

Reggie sighed loudly, brushing his short hair back. Aturiel leaned forward on his elbows, looking Reggie in the eyes.

"I know you'll pay that loan off. But that's still a hard thing to do when you aren't all there, especially in a job like this, understand?"

"I understand, man, I do."

"Tell you what I'll do. I'm giving you the rest of today off to rest. Sleep well. I'll move your next day off this week to tomorrow so you can use that day to clear your mind. This means a longer work-week for you once it's all done, but trust me, you can use this break now."

"True, I can."

"Use it well, y'hear me?"

"I will, Aturiel."

"You better. Remember to SLEEP."

"Sleep is overrated."

"I agree, but do it anyway. Or at least meditate." Aturiel smiled as he spoke.

Chuckling, Reggie said, "I'll mull things over. I should be fine after a while to myself."

"I hope so. Having a borderline depressed worker isn't precisely fun," finished Aturiel with a laugh.

"I'd imagine so," replied Reggie with a laugh. "I suppose I'll see you in a couple days, then?"

"That you will, Reg. Get outta here." Aturiel nodded as Reggie got up. As Reggie turned around and began to leave, he heard Aturiel shout "Remember to SLEEP," which, amazingly, caused him to break down in laughter as he made his way out of the building. He was still chuckling to himself as he climbed onto the train home.

* * *

The door to Reggie's condo hissed open and he stepped in to see Blaze relaxing on the couch, nearly asleep. Blaze turned his head slightly to look at Reggie as he walked to the staircase.

"You're home early, Reg. What's up?"

"I was given an early day off, I'm free tomorrow too. I'm thinkin' I'll be doing some sightseeing then, but for now, I should rest. Where's the rest of the gang?"

"They stole your bed. I told them not to, but they did." Blaze chuckled as he relaxed again.

"Oh, you do the same," retorted Reggie with a laugh.

"But not as blatantly!"

"Sure, Blaze."

"Okay, so I am rather obvious about it. But still! It's comfy." Blaze put his head back on the arm of the couch, resting. Reggie made his way to his bedroom, but decided to visit the restroom first. No doubt his face looked terrible as it always did after work.

He looked into the mirror and realized how tired he really looked. His short hair was a mess. His blue eyes were worn and looked so tired. His normally sturdy-looking face now looked aged. And, of course, his face was just a bit dirty from work. He splashed water over his face and brushed his teeth before taking another look in the mirror. At least it helped him look a little better.

He walked to his door, which promptly slid open before him. As expected, his whole team, excepting Blaze of course, were occupying the bed. Luxtra lied in back, the other three beside her stomach. Tiger immediately awoke, hopping up with excitement, which was only augmented when Reggie would show him attention. His barking promptly woke up the others, all of whom flocked to Reggie.

"All this attention suddenly, I missed something around here, I know it." Reggie smiled as Luxtra finally joined the group, somewhat groggy. She stumbled slightly before regaining her footing and brushed against Reggie, purring loudly.

"What is it that I missed, eh?" Luxtra's ears perked almost immediately upon hearing that, and she happily trotted to the end table, took the card gingerly with her teeth, and handed it to Reggie who quickly read it over.

"To our trainer...our best friend..." He paused as he held in a laugh, seeing the re-written text above a giant pawprint. "Thanks for always being there." He looked away from the card, towards the anxious team. Clearly they were waiting to see his final reaction. "You guys are incredible." He laughed and knelt down, immediately being smothered by the lot of them, Luxtra patiently waiting her turn.

As soon as the others cleared and Reggie sighed a breathe of relief, she lowered her front end, wriggled as she prepared to pounce, and launched herself at Reggie with a roar. Amidst the hilarious chaos he heard Blaze laughing loudly from the living room.

"Tiger!" The Growlithe perked his ears up upon hearing his name. "Shut Blaze up!" Tiger barked and bolted down the stairs. It wasn't long before Blaze, still laughing, could be heard yelling crazily and running. He gently pushed the still-purring Luxtra off of him and gave her a massive hug. "I love you guys."

Reggie then climbed onto his bed, soon accompanied by Nadien, Kip, and Luxtra. Nadien made himself comfortable on his chest, Kip took Reggies stomach as her spot, and Luxtra lied alongside Reggie, constantly stealing his right arm to use as a pillow. He chuckled and let out a long sigh before finally drifting to sleep.


	4. A Visit to the Clinic

Reggie woke up with a frown, suddenly feeling completely alone. He checked his clock and realized he had slept much longer than he had originally intended — it was now the morning of the next day. He jumped out of bed, changed himself in a matter of seconds, ran to the bathroom to wash up, then nearly flew down the stairs to the living room. Blaze was lounging on the couch again, Tiger and Nadien occupying the other two seats. Kip was resting just beside the holodisplay, apparently asleep.

"What'd I miss," asked Reggie as he approached Blaze.

"Nothing. I let Luxtra out for you, you looked so peaceful in your sleep and I didn't want to wake you up."

Reggie almost laughed, but allowed himself to smile. "Thanks. Let me check the news?"

Blaze nodded his assent and tossed Reggie the remote. He changed it to the morning news, and waited a few moments while a commercial finished.

"Welcome back to K'telle 12 News at noon." Said the well dressed Mewtwo anchor. "Now for today's segment of our ongoing weekly special on humans living in K'telle: 'How do they get by?' Today's topic is health care. With the inability to psychically heal themselves like most of the citizens of K'telle, humans used to face a difficult choice; either heal naturally over a long period of time or ask a K'tellian friend to give them a psychic healing. All of that has changed with the opening of a new human health clinic in the southern quarter of Sativa. Founded and operated by Dr. Izaru Skygem, the clinic provides cheap psychic healing to the general human public of K'telle. The clinic is relatively new, having been opened last week, but has already seen heavy customer traffic during off hours. It's another wonderful example of how Lord Nolus has been doing his best to make Sativa more and more hospitable to humans even during these stressful times when tensions between K'telle and the UHN have been on the rise."

An idea struck Reg and he flicked off the TV and grabbed his jacket. "I think I'm going to go check that clinic out, maybe they can help me get out of this funk I've been stuck in. After that I think I'll do a little sightseeing, but I should be back before tonight. Make sure to let Luxtra back in, alright?"

"Will do, Reggie. You have fun, alright?" Blaze looked towards Reggie, concerned. "You deserve to let loose."

"Will do, Blaze. Trust me." Reggie smiled and turned towards the grav-lift to begin his day, but he really had no idea his day would be so very different than most.

* * *

It didn't take him long to get to the clinic. After the newscast, it was no problem picking it out. He was partially nervous about the whole thing—he had never been to a clinic of any kind before, unless you count regular doctor visits.

Reggie slowly pushed the door to the clinic open, taking a couple steps in. "Hello?"

The reception area was mostly empty; there were several comfy looking chairs with no occupants, a few human strangers here and there sitting and reading magazines, and a bored looking 'Two sitting behind a reception desk fiddling with a holographic computer display. The receptionist gestured to him to come on over.

Reggie promptly made his way over to the desk, almost laughing to himself at how bored the 'Two looked. "Hey, what kind of services do you offer?"

"We're a small healing clinic, founded specifically for helping keep humans healthy. We treat everything from viruses to severed limbs. The only things we can't handle are cancers and rare genetic disorders. Do you need some healing?" He asked, looking away from the display to look Reg in the eye.

"I suppose I do. Emotional healing, or at least anything that can help me clear my mind properly."

"This clinic handles physical injuries and illnesses sir, if you want psychological treatment we would recommend you go to the Sativa Sanctum at the center of the city."

"Oh, I see." Suddenly, Reggie fell into a short fit of coughing. Finally, holding a hand up, he chuckled slightly. "Oh, and I have an interesting cold bug I would like removed."

"Ah, now that's more of our specialty. ID Card please?" The receptionist said, pulling out a little hand-held scanner. Reggie pulled out his card and held it in his hand as he reached towards the scanner.

"So what's the price for this," he asked before scanning.

"For a minor virus, it's 5 credits." He said, and ran the scanner over Reggie's hand and then the card. After a few seconds a little green light blinked on the screen to indicated that his ID had been verified.

"Well," began Reggie, "your prices are defintiely amazing." He stuffed his card back in his pocket and took a look around the clinic, wondering if he'd have anyone to talk to.

"It'll be about ten minutes." The receptionist finished, before turning back to the holo-console and continuing his game of 3D minesweeper.

"Alright." Reggie took a few steps to the chairs and sat down to stay out of the way in case any other customers came in. He busied himself with thinking of other things to see once he was done at the Sanctum. He found himself quickly bored, realizing that he had only seen so much of Sativa in his three weeks' occupation of the city.

A minute or two later the door to the back rooms opened up and a human man appeared. Reg immediately recognized him as Jason, one of his coworkers at the plant who managed the pouring of molten metal into the molds.

Reggie looked up and immediately smiled, his boredom gone. "Jason! Oi! Git yer arse over here!"

"Hey, Reg! I haven't seen you down here before! I guess this explains why you weren't in at the plant today!" Jason said, going over and sitting next to Reg

"Yea, 'Docter' Aturiel prescribed this day off for me," said Reggie with a small laugh. "I can see this helping a bit. How was work?"

"Oh, I had a bit of an accident. I got a little bead of molten tritanium on my arm and it burned right through my gloves and make a big black mark on my skin. Thank God for this clinic here, I'm fixed up as good as new now! But what about you, are you sick?"

Reggie winced as he mentioned the burn. "Coulda been worse, man. But yea, I've been sick. I keep pushing myself too hard, I end up sick on my days off!" He laughed light-heartedly at his own dilemma. "This place is cheap, though, so I might be able to ENJOY my weekends soon enough!"

"Yeah, this place is great. My burn only cost me 10 credits to fix up, so I'm good as new to head back to the plant to finish up my shift. When will I be seeing you back in there?"

"Tomorrow," said Reggie. "I'll be back tomorrow. But I'm using today to clear my mind and explore town for a while."

"Well I gotta head back now, Aturiel wants me to finish up for one more hour before I head home. Feel better man!" Jason said, standing and offering Reg a low five

Reggie readily indulged in the low five and nodded Jason away before returning to his bored state, looking around the clinic to keep his mind occupied.

There were a few other random humans there, but nobody that Reggie recognized. After a few more minutes another few humans would appear out of the door to the back rooms, and the receptionist called the other people waiting in the order they had arrived. Soon Reg was alone with the pile of magazines and bored receptionist, who was still playing 3D Minesweeper.

Reggie looked over to the receptionist, chuckling. "You look so very excited about that game."

"Not much else to do around here. We don't get very many patients during work hours, but I can't just connect to the Sodalis or I'd space out and lose track when they do actually come in. Also, the doctor says he'll be with you in less than five minutes now."

Reggie nodded, realizing how slow time seems to go when he's bored. "Don't many of the customers bother to try and talk to you? You've got to have the regulars, right?"

"A few do, but not that often. I've had whole days when not a single person said a word to me outside of making appointments."

Reggie smiled and chuckled. "Expect a new regular then."

The next bunch of humans emerged out of the back door and Reggie heard the telepathic voice of the doctor in his head, "Next patient, Reginald Thompson please."

Reggie stood up and proceeded towards the back room, slightly nervous about his first time. "What's the usual procedure, Doc?"

The doctor was a shorter Mewtwo wearing a small white sash over his chest with his nametag and credentials on it; 'Dr. Izaru Skygem, Doctorate in human physiology'

"Just a quick scan first to identify the virus. Hold still please." He said, pulling out a slightly larger hand-held scanner.

Reggie immediately held still as he was scanned, not even bothering to ask questions. The scanner hummed for a moment before giving a small cheerful beep.

"You have the common cold, Mr. Thompson, just as the receptionist suspected. This will be easy to treat." He said, and went over to a console and fiddled with it a little.

"Oh, well I kind of knew that one. I tend to give it to myself every time I have off." He chuckled slightly, again at his own stupidity. "I admit, I push myself too hard, and this weather doesn't help."

"Do you carry an umbrella Mr. Thompson? Getting wet and cold every other day doesn't help when you're working yourself so hard!" Izaru said, typing furiously now.

Reggie shrugged slightly. "Just my jacket. It serves me well, though."

A little syringe full of clear liquid popped out of a dispenser in the wall and Izaru grabbed it and examined it lightly before going over to him. "It'd do you alot of good if you did buy one though. Roll up your sleeve please."

Reggie rolled up his sleeve as he responded. "Next paycheck, I promise. You can fry my mind if I forget."

"Just more money for me if you keep coming in here with various bugs! Now hold still, I'll numb you so you won't feel this." Izaru said, one of his hands glowing slightly as he psychically deactivated the nerves in Reggie's upper arm and then stuck the needle in.

"As long as you guys do your job well, I don't care how much I have to pay you." Reggie winced as the needle slid in--that always went right through him, and he had to fight the urge to shudder slightly even without the pain.

Izaru injected the nanites quickly, removed the syringe, and stuck it in the slot of the dispensor labeled "Sanitation".

"It'll take about 10 minutes for that to kill all the viruses. In the mean time I'll give you a quick psychic recover. You'll be up to speed and ready to go in no time."

Reggie relaxed as much as he could, which ended up being much more than he thought he could. "All this for 5 creds? No complaints at all."

"The nanites are mass-produced and cost fractions of a credit to buy, and a single recover of such a small issue takes less psychic energy than lifting up a small stone with my mind, so don't worry about us putting ourselves out of business!" Izaru said, putting a hand on Reg's shoulder.

The doctor's hand glowed again and reg felt a warm, almost numb feeling spread over his body. The symptoms of the cold immediately vanished. "All done!"

Reggie chuckled, feeling compeltely better. For his first time, he saw there was very little to be nervous about. In fact, it was very fast and very relaxing as well. Not to mention the doc seemed friendly enough and gave him (obvious) advice. He certainly would make a note to get an umbrella.

"Thanks, I appreciate this. I'll most likely be back," he added with a laugh.

"I wonder if that's a good or a bad thing!" Izaru said with a chuckle, and lead him back to the reception area. "Good luck at the Sanctum!"

Reggie nodded and thanked Doctor Izaru with a handshake. As he walked by the clerk he offered another thanks, realizing how good he felt. He was about to leave but he suddenly stopped and turned around.

"Where is the Sanctum from here," he asked the receptionist.

"The Sanctum is built into the city's central tower. Since we're in the Southern Quarter of the city you're going to want to head North until you hit it. You'll recognize the place from the big stone steps at the base of the tower."

"Thanks!" He nodded and turned out the door, turning north immediately and deciding to skip the train and walk the way up. He really did feel wonderful, he almost wanted to scream, but decided against it.


	5. A New Kind of Love

The Sativan Central tower served many different purposes, but the three main ones were Spaceport, trade center and amplifier for the Sodalis Psychic Network. It wasn't quite as tall as the one in the capital city of Teyn, but it was still very impressive standing just short of a mile tall. The Sativa Sanctum took up only a small part of it, but the entrance to the Sanctum was still beautifully adorned with a marble staircase, large steel double doors with heroic scenes engraved, and 2 large stained glass windows to let in sunlight.

Reggie began to ascend the massive staircase, hardly feeling winded in the least. It was different to him to feel healthy. Different...but thoroughly enjoyable. All he needed now was a complete mind clearing, and he was more than looking forward to it. When he had made it to the doors he made it a point to admire the work put into them before pushing them open. The door on the left was engraved with the image of Tanis the Liberator, famous for defeating Ares after 40 years of tyranny, and the door on the right depicted Mewtwo himself, the very first of the species who had been created by Team Rocket.

He gasped slightly, seeing the artwork and recognizing it immediately from his history classes. He even remembered how he had played the part of Tanis in a school play before 'maturing'. Who ever really does that anymore, he thought, regarding growing up. He smiled as he remembered his younger years fondly, then he proceeded to push the doors open before him.

The inside of the Sanctum was huge, with enough space to seat 200 Mewtwos easily. There weren't pews though, but individual little sitting cushions that were lined with green velvet. The room was shaped roughly like an ancient Greek amphitheater, slightly sloped and U shaped but not sharply so. The decor was a mix of modern and antique, with more engravings on the walls and holographic sculpture art in the corners. At the front of the room was a large series of polyplexiglass viewing windows, behind which Reg could see the Sodalis Devouts; a small cluster of 'Twos who had volunteered themselves to act as living psychic network nodes in the Sodalis.

They were sitting in a circle behind the glass and were covered with cables and computer equipment. There were about 20 other Mewtwos in the room, all but one of them sitting in deep meditation on the sitting cushions Reggie glanced around, amazed at this sight. It was breathtaking in every possible manner, from the construction to the design from so far back. His eyes wandered then to the meditating 'Two's, then to the only one who didn't seem completely peaceful, but aware, relatively speaking. She had light lavender skin and fur that faded to white on her feet, hands and tail, wore a large white sash over most of her body, and had crystalline green eyes.

He spoke carefully, still dumbfounded by this amazing structure. "Umm, excuse me, but why does everyone look high?"

"It's called Meditation you know, that's what we do here! I take it you're new here?" she replied, a little surprised by his brusque nature but smiling at his joke.

Chuckling, Reggie continued. "Yeeaa, very. This place is incredible, though!"

"Yeah, Nolus designed it himself after learning everything about architecture from Opulous. Mind if I show you around, Mr...?" She asked, gesturing for him to introduce himself.

Reggie started suddenly. "Oh! Thompson. Reginald Thompson. Call me Reggie, please. My full first name bugs me." He laughed slightly. "What is your name, Miss?"

"Kaira Ryelle, but people just call me Kaira. Come on, I'll show you around." She said, gesturing to him to follow her towards the front of the room.

"Kaira?" It wasn't so much a question as a statement. "Nice name. Why couldn't I get one like that?" He chuckled as he ran up beside her. "I have a feeling this place is absolutely massive."

"If you mean the Sanctum, I'd say what you see is mostly what you get. Those doors on the side of the room lead to a few smaller private chambers that are off-limits to the general public, and this door here with the 2 armed guards leads to the back section, including the Devout chamber which you can see through the glass here." She said, pointing to the guarded door. One of the guards nodded to them curtly.

Reggie nodded back, completely wide-eyed after seeing the guard's uniform. "That's some crazy firepower he's packing. Those devouts are obviously more important than I originally thought..."

"Yeah, if for some reason they were disconnected or killed, our whole city would fall off of the Sodalis grid! The people could still communicate psychically, but the network would suddenly be plunged into a state of chaos."

"Wow..." Reggie stroked his chin for a second. "Naturally, that would be a problem...this place is more important than I thought. WAY more important."

"Yeah, and if something were to happen, all of the guards, as well as all the healers including myself, can call for reinforcements to teleport in. They'd be here in less than a minute."

"Well, I'm just glad I'm on your side," Reggie laughed.

"So you must have come down here for a reason, and it's probably not to psychically link up to Sodalis!" Kaira said with a sly grin

"Oh! That's right!" Reggie wiped his forehead a bit, irritated with his forgetfulness today. "My mind has been on the fritz today, sorry. I need a bit of...emotional healing, I suppose the word would be. Anything to clear my mind."

"Well that's what we specialize in here! Take a seat please." She said, sitting on a cushion and gesturing for him to sit next to her. Reggie smiled and took a seat next to her, feeling almost silly about it. He was anxious to clear his mind, but he wouldn't question anything after the clinic treatment.

"Now I'm going to link my mind up to yours, but don't worry, I'm not going to prod into any of your private thoughts. I'm only going to act as a proxy between you and the Sodalis. This is similar to the Pokemon technique called pain-split, except it works with emotional pain and evenly splits it across the entire population of K'telle. With such a large population, even trauma as severe as a death in the family can be split so many times that the pieces are infinitely small"

"Wow...this place is never gonna cease to amaze me in some way, I know it." He smiled and relaxed, letting all of his muscles loosen up. "I have to admit, it's odd letting someone else explore my mind, but I'm used to that by now."

Kaira closed her eyes and gently laid a hand on the top of his head. A moment later he could feel her presence in his mind, calm and soothing like a cool salve on a burn. Then he'd feel even more presences; hundreds, and then thousands of them. Their voices echoed past him, just out of comprehension, and he could feel his anguish over Amanda slowly trail away and fade over the link

Reggie nearly panicked--he almost wanted to. Hearing all of those bizarre voices was a bit frightening at first. But the ensuing peace was too much to ignore, and he let it overwhelm him as soon as he had felt it. It was so peaceful again, and he sighed deeply without even realizing it. A few moments later the link faded and Kaira removed her hand from Reggie's head.

"There, all done!" She said cheerfully. "I'm sorry about what happened with Amanda."

Reggie shook his head, finding himself able to feel completely peaceful even at the mention of the name. "Don't be. It was necessary, now that I look back on it. Things just wouldn't have worked, really."

"I'm sorry if that was private, but I had to at least see what was causing the pain in order to transmit it."

Reggie shook his head once again, smiling suddenly. "No worries. Honestly, it helps more that someone knows. Other than family, I mean," he said as he thought of Blaze. "It makes it easier to talk about. Or maybe it's just...I dunno. This place rules," he finished with a laugh.

"Yeah, if it weren't for the fact that I have to see so much personal pain of various people who come here, I'd really love my job." Kaira said, her eyes hiding a little glimmer of sadness.

Reggie looked directly at her, smiling an idiotic smile purposely. "But you're strong. I'd never be able to do something like that. You see others' pain and wash it away--there is pride to be had in that."

"Thank you, that's awfully sweet. What about you, what do you do for a living?"

Reggie blushed slightly at the comment. "Thanks. I work as a smelter at Montalbo. One crazy job, I tell ya."

"Sounds tiring! Do you live here in Sativa or do you commute?"

"I live here," replied Reggie. "Towards the edge of the city. What about yourself?"

"I have a condo a few blocks away from the Sanctum here, that way I can take a short stroll to work every day."

"Well, that's awesome! Do you live with anyone? Family, friends?"

"I live alone, but my dad is never too far, he lives in a private suite here in the central tower near the top, so if I want to visit him he's just a teleport away."

"Wow...I can't imagine living alone. Doesn't it get boring?"

"Yeah, but I do get to meet alot of interesting new people here at work!" She said, veiling a compliment to him in her answer.

Reggie chuckled slightly, just barely getting the compliment. "Well, I get to meet interesting new people and 'Two's just by wandering around aimlessly. It's fun!"

"Do you wander around often?"

"Too often for my own good, but I mainly keep to myself until I get home or until I meet someone I know. Today was just a special occasion of sorts," he said, smiling and nodding.

"Well maybe you should talk to people more often! You seem outgoing enough to make plenty of friends!"

Reggie shrugged, knowing it to be true. "I know, I know. I really should." He chuckled slightly. "I really should talk more often. Maybe I will."

"Was that a hint that you want to talk to me more often?" Kaira asked with a smile.

Reggie fought the urge to blush--and lost. Sighing and smiling, he continued. "Yes, yes it was."

"Huh, well I still have a few more hours left on my shift today. Maybe you'd like to meet me at the steps at 5 and we can go get something to eat?"

Reggie, chuckling a little bit, nodded. "That'll be good. Is there more to this place, or is this unofficial tour complete then?"

"Considering the fact that I'd get fired for showing you any of the other rooms, I'd say that's a yes!" She said with a chuckle.

"Oh, alright then," Reggie replied, laughing. "Don't want THAT. I'll leave you to your duties then?"

"See you at five!" She said, waving to him as he left.

Reggie nodded, waving back as he made his way to the main doors. As soon as he turned away, he cocked his arm in celebration. Somehow, he found himself happier than immediately after the mind cleansing. Great things were in store for him, and he knew it.

* * *

The Sanctum steps were a little more crowded when Reggie returned, there was a small crowd of 'Twos hustling into the Sanctum for an evening meditation. Kaira pushed herself past them and scanned the area

Reggie jumped up and down waving his arms, just stopping short of yelling out to her, but unable to contain his laughter.

Kaira saw him, waved, and pushed her way out of the bustle to greet him. "What are you laughing about?"

"Just thinking about how stupid I just looked," he replied, still laughing. "Which way to the food?"

"Well, that depends on what you want to eat. I know at least one burger place, many vegetarian eateries, and a good number of sushi places too. What do you feel like?"

"I've had too many burgers. Haven't tried sushi, though. How is the stuff?"

"It's wonderful, the stuff we get is freshly caught and teleported straight to the city for preparing, so you don't have to worry about it going bad during shipping. I know a great place in the western business district if you're interested in trying it out."

Reggie clapped his hands together with a smile on his face. "Lead the way!"

Kaira smiled and took them a little ways around the edge of the base of the central tower before leading them west down a narrow street. A few K'tellian citizens buzzed past them overhead, psychically flying less than a foot above them.

"So, how long have you lived in K'telle?"

Reggie watched the other K'Tellians hover overhead, silently wishing he was capable of such things. "A little bit now, I've lost track of time. But I've been here in Sativa for a little over 3 weeks, if that helps at all."

"Met alot of other K'tellian women in that time?" She asked with a sly grin.

Reggie chuckled out loud. He found himself enjoying her wit. "Oh, tons," he said, waving with his arms elaborately to exaggerate, "I can't keep 'em off of me." His joking tone was a touch sarcastic, but certainly not venemously so.

"So you're totally comfortable as a human dating a Pokemon then?" She asked with a laugh, enjoying his humor.

Reggie blushed again. Somehow, the term pokemon, he realized, had escaped his description of her. And yet, he felt completely comfortable with everything as it was, even with this minor revelation. "You don't seem to mind dating a human," he replied, a small grin on his face.

"You could say I was raised in a much more tolerant atmosphere than alot of my peers." She said with a slight chuckle. "You should be glad you don't have to live in Belicia!"

"Hmm, good point." He nodded before continuing. "Still, it doesn't seem like something one would see every day, unless everyone hides it?"

"Yeah, you could call it abnormal I guess. You seem interesting enough though so I'm willing to give it a shot!"

"Well, thanks for the compliment. Same can easily be said about you." He tapped her arm lightly to emphasize his statement.

At that point they came upon a small little grassy park less than 1 city block square and filled with willow trees, and Kaira smiled and pointed to it. "The restaurant is just on the other side there, let's cut across and enjoy the trees!"

Reggie smiled and glanced over the park. As small as it was, he was surprised. He hadn't seen this before, and he made sure to enjoy the sights at the least. "I just realized, despite how often I go out, I really haven't seen a lot of this city."

Kaira brushed aside a willow branch as they strolled through the park. "Maybe you'd like me to show you around a little more later? I know ALL the best spots to sightsee, eat, relax, etc."

"I'm fine with that. How long have you lived here?"

Kaira started to reply but was interruptred when another willow branch smacked her in the face. She sputtered and reworded her sentence, "Practically my whole life, I was only a teen when my family moved in. I love this city and know every inch of it."

Reggie couldn't contain a chuckle. "Are you alright, Kaira?"

"I'm fine! These willows can be such a hassle sometimes!" She said, ducking down lower and picking up her pace. They crossed the street quickly and she pushed the glass door of the restaurant open for him.

Reggie laughed and shook his head. "Oh no you don't, the gentleman gets the door for the lady!" He promptly took the door and stood there, obviously rooted.

"Oh, a stubborn one too aren't we!" She said, relinquishing the door with a chuckle.

"Only on occasion! I promise!" He laughed and followed her in. "What would you recommend for a starter?"

Kaira signalled the waiter for a table for 2 and he lead them to a small secluded corner spot. "I have always loved the Lumineon Sashimi they serve here, they prepare it with fresh white rice imported from Johto."

"Well," said Reggie, "I'll go with that to start then." He fiddled slightly with a couple napkins and setting them to his side.

Kaira didn't even need to look at her menu, as soon as the waiter came by she simply ordered 2 plates of the Lumineon Sashimi. The waiter set glasses of cold water down on the table for them and scurried off with their order.

"So where are you from Reg? I happen to know that there are no humans who are born native in K'telle, so where did you move here from?"

"I've moved to K'telle from Pennsylvania. That's over in the States. Got a job here, was transferred to the Montalbo plant here in Sativa, and, honestly, I actually enjoy it here." His throat felt somewhat dry, so he took a small sip of water.

"Wow, you're the first American I've ever met in person! You seem to have adjusted to Japan and K'telle very well. Tell me, what initially brought you across the Pacific?"

"Well, at first is was to expand as a trainer. But I quickly learned the rules here and decided to get a job. I've been saving up to get a ride home, but the longer I'm here the more I want to stay. Besides, I've become less a trainer and more a...father, as silly as it sounds."

"I think it's wonderful that you've decided to keep your Pokemon more as friends than as warriors. I've considered keeping one myself but have never had the time." Kaira said with a little wistful sigh.

Reggie smiled and looked up at her. "You're welcome to visit if you'd like. If it's okay with you, I mean. I'm sure my family would love to see you."

At that point the food arrived at the table and Kaira got a hungry grin as she put her napkin in her lap. There were both chopsticks and silverware to use, and the portions seemed noticeably smaller than Reg was used to, only 4 pieces of fish on little wedges of rice and a little dish of soy sauce to dip them in. Reggie, however, ignored the smaller serving and used a fork to pick up a piece. He was slow-going in taking a bite, but as soon as it was down, he spoke up. "This is actually really good!"

"The best part is that it's so cheap, this whole evening will only cost me about 20 credits." Kaira said, in between nibbles on her food. She ate especially slowly, taking small bites and enjoying them thoroughly.

Reggie chuckled and 'glared' at her, obviously playfully so. "Do we have to go through the whole 'gentleman' thing again?"

"Ok ok, go ahead and pay, but next time It'll be my turn!" She said with a grin.

"Fair enough," he replied with a chuckle. "What else do they serve here," he asked, eyes still on her.

"Still hungry?" She asked with a surprised look. "Oh, wait, I forgot that humans eat more than we do. I'm usually too full at this point to look at the dessert menu! Do you want me to have the waiter bring you one?"

Reggie laughed again. "Naw, I'm only curious. At least, for this visit," he added.

Kaira kept nibbling on her fish even after Reg had finished eating. "so you said you used to be a Pokemon trainer, what Pokemon do you have?"

"Let's see," he said, spreading his fingers, "I've got a Luxray, Blaziken, Growlithe," he continued, and with each name he ticked off a finger, "a Glaceon, and a Mudkip."

"Oh wow, you own a Luxray! I know Lord Venius of Belicia owns a whole pride of them. They're very majestic aren't they?"

"That they are," he said, smiling as he thought fondly of his closest animal-like friend. "Seeing a pride of them would be amazing!"

"I've considered adopting one of the wild Shinxes that wander out on the plains, but as I said, work keeps me busy most of the time and I wouldn't want to leave them alone in my Condo." Kaira said, pausing to take a big drink of water. "The fact that you own a Luxray and a Glaceon means you've been to Sinnoh and your Mudkip and Blaziken tell me you've been to Hoenn. Tell me, have you seen many of the other Japanese regions?"

"No, at least not fully." He took a long drink from his own cup. "I've only just passed through the areas I've been to, in a sense. This place is more satisfying than the others, though, so I'm happy here."

"Yeah, I hear that most humans who move to K'telle have expressed their intentions to stay in the long term!" Kaira said, nibbling on her last piece of sashimi

"I wonder why," he said, mostly to himself. "This place is great. Friendly people and amazing sights. Wonder what else this city has?"

"Have you ever seen the view from the top of the tower?" Kaira asked, taking a bigger bite this time.

"No, no I haven't. Heights frighten me, but...I think I can manage if we were to check it out sometime."

"Well, I have a half shift tomorrow, do you want to go up with me? I can introduce you to my Dad since he lives up there."

Reggie started slightly. "I guess now is a good time to mention that, in the States, the father of a girlfriend is usually murderous towards the male," he said with a nervous chuckle. "You sure I'll survive the encounter?"

"Hah, no worries. My Dad is cool, he'll probably just needle you with jokes." Kaira said before finishing the last bite of sashimi and taking a big gulp of water.

Reggie allowed himself a sigh of relief. "Well, better than needling me with a rifle." He finished off his water then wiped his mouth with a napkin.

The waiter appeared a few moments later with a handheld Card scanner. "20 credits, ID Card please."

Reggie got his card out and had it scanned, talking to Kaira. "Anything else you wanted to do today?"

"I didn't have anything planned no, did you have something in mind?"

"Nothing that isn't made up maybe a second ago," he answered, chuckling. "I'm having fun, but I think I've got a little more time before I should be getting home. Luxtra will miss me," he chuckled."

"Well if you've got a little bit more time, want to walk me home? You've been insisting on the whole gentleman routine all day after all!"

"Well," he said, chuckling, "you've got a point, and I was planning on that anyway." He stood up and pushed his chair in and made sure to get the door for her yet again, smiling the dorkiest smile possible just for laughs.

"A gentleman and a goofball I see!" Kaira chuckled, letting him get the door for her and leading the way towards a nearby condo complex. It was less than a block away at the border of the business district and they arrived at the front doors quickly.

"Again, only on occasion," he laughed, following right beside her.

"So, meet up outside the sanctum doors again tomorrow? My shift ends at noon."

"Sure, I'll make it if I get to work early." He nodded as he thought about it for a second. "Yea, it's a done deal."

Kaira flashed her ID card to the scanner and the door hissed open. "We can go around the base of the tower and get into one of the central elevators to head to the top if you want. We should be able to see the capital from those heights!"

"That sounds excellent, Kaira. I'm all for it."

Kaira grinned and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll look forward to it. Thanks for dinner!"

"Anytime!" Reggie hugged her, but then nearly jumped back, not sure if it would offend her or not. "Err...sorry."

"Heh, I'm not offended." She said, and planted a little kiss on the top of his head before stepping into the grav lift and waving goodbye. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

Reggie blushed a fine shade of red and waved back. As soon as she was out of sight, he pumped his arm in victory all over again. His mind swiftly traveled to Amanda. Short memories of a girl he had dated for less than a month. In all the time he had dated Amanda, he had never felt THIS good. There was definitely something very different with Kaira. And, for better or for worse, he was willing to stick it out and find out WHAT made him feel so good.

His trip home was the most pleasant he had ever taken.


	6. The Father

The noon rush was filling the sanctum steps with the usual crowded throng, but this time Kaira wasn't caught in it when Reggie arrived. She was sitting on the leftmost retaining wall at the side of the staircase, her tail draped over it gently, and concentrating on a little hand-held digital pad. Reggie saw this as an opportunity to try and scare her, so he smiled and ducked low, trying to avoid being seen as he began to sneak up behind her. She was apparently oblivious to him, her stylus danced across the pad at her psychic behest and she hummed a tune as he crept up behind her. Then, just as he was about to pounce, she said "Hey sneak, I can sense you back there!"

Reggie laughed and stood up, slinking in failure. "It was worth a shot!" He hopped over the edge and landed beside her. "How was work?"

"No troubles, I was pulling a guard duty shift and as usual, nobody ever caused trouble. How about your day?"

"Slightly tiring, as is the norm. And getting out early after having a day off isn't easy," he finished, chuckling. "I really had to sweet talk my way through, but I made it, so it's all good."

Kaira finished whatever it was she was working on with that pad and tucked it away into her purse. "Ready for the tower tour?" She asked, hopping down off of the wall.

"Oh, very," he answered, straightening his jacket. "Lead on, Miss Kaira!"

She pointed upwards towards what looked to be a large branching system of docks and entrances for airships at least 30 stories above them. "The main commerce entrances are up there for freighter ship access. I can fly us up if you want, or we can use the smaller ground entrance and find an elevator. What do you prefer?"

"Considering I've never flown without the aid of engines and jets," he said, smiling, "I think I'll give flying with you a shot."

"Sure, it's easy enough. Just take my hand." She said, offering one to him.

Reggie firmly grasped her hand, slightly nervous. He was afraid of heights, as he had mentioned earlier, but he wouldn't mind an excuse to try something new with Kaira. He almost wanted to close his eyes before they even started to lift. The way that Kaira lifted them both made it seem like they never even left the ground. He could still feel something solid under his feet that was supporting him, but he and Kaira were both floating upwards at increasing speed. When he looked down he saw that there wasn't actually anything physical under his feet, so she must have created a force field of some kind for him to stand on.

He gripped her hand a little tighter, somewhere between excited and still nervous, the whole thing completely new to him. "Okay, wow, this is SO cool!"

"This is just the boring version too, I gave you a surface to stand on since I remembered that you said you hated heights. The real fun of flying comes with psychic weightlessness so you can float around like an astronaut." Kaira said, demonstrating by floating sideways to make it appear that she was lounging on nothing.

Reggie laughed nervously. "I'll get used to that eventually." Reggie began to try the lounging action he had seen Kaira do, but several times he shot back, standing again.

They arrived at one of the commercial entrances shortly and Kaira gently reoriented herself and stepped onto the steel floor of the entryway, and the single polyplexiglass sliding door whooshed open when the floor sensors detected her step. The inside was cluttered with dozens of steel and plastic crates that various merchant ships had unloaded, and a few scattered K'tellians passed through the halls here and there.

Reggie followed beside her, still a little off balance from the recent flight. "We gotta do that more often," he said despite himself, looking back towards the entrance.

"If you'll give me directions to your place I can fly you home when we're done here!" Kaira said, leading him through the door and into the hallways beyond.

"Sounds fun to me. I won't get used to it if I don't do it often, after all."

After brushing past a few traders who were psychically carrying large barrels of goods, Kaira led him to a small elevator which had a window wall with a spectacular view of the city. At the height they had already achieved they could see the hordes of flying K'tellians and hovercars buzzing through the city's skies. The smooth steel and glass spires of the city sparkled beautifully in the sunlight.

Reggie very nearly pressed himself against the window as he glanced out, taking in the view of the city. "This is just amazing, holy cow!"

"I don't know too many Acrophobics who would lean up against glass like that at such a height!" Kaira said with a chuckle, pressing the elevator button for the top floor.

"As long as it's not a death drop, I'm good," he said, smiling. "There's glass here, so I know I won't be visiting the ground at high speeds anytime soon. Besides, you wouldn't let me fall, right?" He chuckled and continued looking over the city, somewhat excitedly.

"Yeah, I could grab you out of the air with my mind, but not too many phobics have such a rational control of their fears. You have good self control!" She said as the elevator began its climb.

"I've got good self-control, just a lack of common sense in a few areas." He chuckled, thinking of how often he ends up sick by over-working himself. At least now he had an excuse to do so.

The elevator picked up speed quickly and soon they were soaring up to the top of the tower at an appreciable clip. As they neared the top Reg saw the tip of another great skyscraper poking up through the distant haze over the northern horizon, and he could see for miles across the plains around the city. The farm domes that covered the landscape shimmered in the sun, and the regular hexagonal grid that they were arranged in reminded Reg of a solar panel.

Reggie excitedly pointed towards the other skyscraper, almost bouncing. "What is THAT?!"

"That's the Central Tower of Teyn, our capital city. It's almost a mile and a half tall!" Kaira said proudly, patriotism obvious in her voice.

"It's incredible! I'll have to make a note to visit that on a vacation or something." He stared at it for a few more seconds before looking out towards the farm domes and green hills, a smile plastered onto his face.

"On a clearer day with less humidity you would just barely be able to see the ocean from up here!" Kaira said, pointing to the east.

Reggie glanced where she had pointed, seeing if he can view the ocean at all, squinting to no avail. A short beep interrupted their sightseeing as the elevator came to a stop, and Kaira jumped a little in surprise.

Reggie had just barely jumped as well, turning to face the elevator door. "That was faster than I thought."

"Yeah, normally I just teleport up here to meet my dad so I don't ride this elevator very often. Hence it's quite easy for me to forget how fast it is!" She said, heading for the doors as they slid open.

Reggie tailed behind her, looking around the new floor. It wasn't as cluttered as the commercial floor, there were no crates lying around the halls and there were several sliding doors along the walls with condo numbers. There were a few tasteful bits of holographic sculpture art here and there, and several large polyplexiglass windows giving fantastic aerial views of the city,

"Your father must enjoy living here."

"Heh, you know it! I told him I was coming for a visit today, but I didn't mention you at all so it'll be fun to see how he reacts!" Kaira said with a mischievous grin, leading him through more corridors and past the doors to other elite suites.

Reggie laughed lightly as she grinned. "Sometimes I wonder if you're worse than I am."

"As you once said to me, maybe some of the time!" Kaira snickered as they reached the last door on the hallway. She gave the doorbell a light push and they stood there for a few moments waiting for an answer.

"Eh," Reggie began, "We all deserve our splurges I suppose."

After a little less than a minute some signs of life finally made themselves known from behind the door. Reg heard what sounded like glass hitting a hard floor and breaking, and a little glass lens on the side of the door briefly scanned them. Then the door slid open, revealing a K'tellian who had obviously just jumped out of the bath to answer the door. He was soaking wet and wrapped in towels, and as soon as he saw Kaira a warm smile spread over his face. "Kaira! You told me you'd be by today but you didn't say when! Figures you'd show up the moment I decided to hit the shower!"

"Hey dad, been hiking out on the wild and getting dirty again?" Kaira said with a laugh. "I'd like you to meet Reggie."

Reggie leaned over and waved timidly, smiling. "Hello."

"Nice to meet you Reggie, I'm Nolus." He said, offering a handshake.

At that moment, Reggie went completely wide-eyed in pure astonishment, slowly extending his hand at first, but then grasping his hand firmly and shaking. "THE Nolus? It's an honor, sir!"

"No need to be formal Reggie, any friend of Kaira's is a friend of mine! Besides, I get called 'Lord Nolus' all the time, so you'll be doing me a favor if you're more casual!" Nolus said with a slight smile.

"Oh! Umm...okay!" Reggie laughed and released Nolus's hand. "I'll try, Si--Nolus."

Nolus turned to Kaira with a half exasperated, half amused look. "If you had told me you were bringing company I'd have made lunch for you two! Now why don't you go make Reggie comfy while I go finish drying myself off! I'll be right back." Nolus said, gesturing to the couch in front of the large window wall before heading off to the bathroom.

"Sure Dad, we'll still be here when you get back!" Kaira said with a laugh, taking Reggie's hand and pulling him toward the couch.

Reggie lowered his voice to an excited whisper before speaking. "You never told me your dad was Nolus!"

"Well I wanted to see how you'd treat a regular girl before telling you that I'm the daughter of one of the founders!" Kaira said wit a little self-satisfied nod.

Reggie chuckled. "Well, now you know," he said with a slight wink. "Even if you were royalty, which it seems you are, I'd still treat you the same."

"I wondered if you might guess from the fact that my dad has the most luxurious suite in the city, but I guess the integrity of my little test wasn't compromised!" She said with a laugh as she sat on the couch.

"Hey, hey," laughed Reggie, clearly enjoying himself, "are you calling me stupid?"

"Oh no, not at all, there are lots of people who live up here after all. I'm just goofing around with you! Besides, there's still more fun to be had with surprises, we'll get to see how my dad reacts when I tell him that you're my boyfriend!" Kaira said with a snicker. Apparently being around her dad brought out the prankster in her.

Reggie laughed a little louder this time, throwing his head back and clapping. "Ohohoho, this'll be good!"

"What'll be good?" Nolus asked, appearing behind them after a teleport. He had that grin of a person who knows he's about to be the butt of a joke.

"Oh, that Reggie here is my boyfriend and we've been going out on dates for the last day or two." Kaira said, struggling to keep a straight face.

Nolus cracked up and gave a good hearty laugh. "Ok ok, you almost had me there!"

"No, actually we're serious." Kaira said, grinning at her dad's reaction.

"I...uhhh...well there's nothing wrong with that..." Nolus said, suddenly very pale and surprised.

Reggie cringed inwardly, afraid that perhaps Nolus wouldn't approve after all. He genuinely liked Kaira, he hadn't had so much fun with Amanda, or really with anyone. He held his tongue for the time being, watching things play out.

"You're not upset, are you dad?" Kaira asked, starting to look a little worried.

Nolus broke out of his shocked spell with a passionate enthusiasm. "Of course not! I've never had a problem with humans before, so why should I be bothered by this! The thing that does bother me is how Lord Venius would react if he ever caught wind of it!"

Reggie sighed, almost audibly, with relief and brushed his hair back. "Nolus, you rock. But what would happen if Venius DID hear about this? I mean, it's not like he can force you to place a law or something, right?"

"Not here in Sativa, no. This city is my domain and he doesn't have any jurisdiction in here unless I allow him to. But he would surely pass one in his own city, and quite possibly would try to get one on the books in the Capital as well. Cygnus and Opulous would probably band together with me to override it, but the ensuing media hellstorm would be brutal!" Nolus said worriedly.

Reggie nodded slowly. "I'd endure it for her if it did happen, if that means anything. But until then, we're fairly safe, right?"

"Yeah, we're safe as long as you both keep it secret. But it means alot to me that you'd be willing to endure that, I can see that my Kaira obviously picked better this time!" Nolus said, patting Reggie on the shoulder.

Reggie smiled wide, almost proudly. "We all make mistakes, Sir--err, Nolus. We learn from them and move on," he said, referring to himself as much as anyone else.

Nolus teleported a few glasses of fruit juice onto the polished granite table in front of the couch and took one for himself, leaving one for Reg and one for Kaira. He sat in a chair across the table facing them and spoke. "So tell me, how did you two meet?"

"Well," began Reg with a sip from his cup, "I was having a bit of a rough day, which was only compounded by my confusion when I first saw the Sanctum." He remembered the moment with a chuckle. "She gave me a tour of the area, cleared my mind for me...and things kinda flowed from there."

Kaira and Nolus were silent for just a moment here, staring at each other, before Nolus suddenly sprung a question at Reggie. "Hey Reg, would you mind terribly if I read your mind?"

Reggie nodded slightly. "I wouldn't, but may I ask why?"

"Kaira and I have a little policy we've agreed on that either she or I read the minds of any prospective suitors for her. It's not that we don't trust you, just think of it kind of like a background check" Nolus said in a slightly apologetic tone.

Reggie nodded and relaxed himself. "I'm open."

Nolus's presence quickly poked into Reggie's mind. It wasn't painful, but it felt odd like the feeling of someone poking him ever so slightly with a dull stick. It rifled through all of Reggie's memories really quick, verifying his story and making sure he was a decent person before quickly vanishing again.

Reggie shuddered as Nolus finished, sighing slightly. "I hope I meet your requirements, Nolus."

"Of course, everything you've said was totally truthful, so you both have my approval!"

Reggie sighed with relief, wiping his forehead of sweat that wasn't really there. "I'm glad, really I am."

"I told you my dad was cool about it!" Kaira said, playfully slugging Reg on the shoulder.

Reggie laughed and gave her arm a playful tug. "He's definitely a lot cooler than I thought."

"I defied more than one expectation today it seems!" Nolus joked, referring to the fact that she hadn't told him her dad was one of the 4 founding brothers.

"That you certainly did. And this is the first time I've ever heard of a girl's dad being THIS cool." Reggie smiled and took another sip of his drink.

"Heh, I'd say you need to meet more K'tellian dads, but that'd involve meeting other girls and I get the feeling that won't be necessary. Have you eaten lunch yet today?"

Reggie shook his head. "No, I haven't, but you don't have to do anything else for me, Nolus, really, you've done enough."

"No, it's no effort at all. Watch!" He said, and walked over to the kitchen. He sat down on a chair in the center of the room and the components for caesar salads emerged out of the fridge and began assembling themselves around him.

Reggie laughed and applauded, enjoying everything quite thoroughly. "That's just awesome!"

"I've had a lot of practice!" Nolus said with a laugh as the lettuce chopped itself. "Even before the founding of K'telle back when I was a kid!"

Reggie was still applauding as he spoke. "Wow! That makes you..." Reggie stopped, counting in his head, trying to figure his age out.

"About 98 now, though I'm not quite sure since I don't keep exact track of it anymore." Nolus said with a smile.

Reggie chuckled, smiling back. "You guys don't age like we do, am I right?" He looked over to Kaira. "And I know better than to ask the age of a woman, especially one with psychic powers."

"Yeah, you're absolutely correct. The anti-aging nanites help too!" Nolus said, carrying the finished salads out of the kitchen with his mind. "She's 78 by the way!" Nolus said, wanting to get revenge for Kaira's pranks on him.

"Daaaaad!" Kaira groaned painfully, and hid her face in her hands.

Reggie laughed again, this time at Kaira's reaction. "Well, Kaira, you look FANTASTIC for your age!" Then he looked towards Nolus, laughing a bit more. "I knew I liked older women, but wow, I hit the jackpot here."

"You mean...you don't mind?" Kaira asked hopefully, looking up at him.

Reggie, still laughing, looked over at her and immediately stopped, but kept his smile. "Of course not! It's what's inside that matters, am I right? Besides, why would I let you loose just because of that?"

"So it doesn't bother you dating someone old enough to be your grandmother?" Nolus said with a snicker, and Kaira smacked him across the side of his head.

Reggie fell into a fresh fit of laughter that ensued for quite some time. When he finally gained his breath back, he wiped his eyes and spoke. "This has GOT to be the best family ever! Besides my own, of course," he added with a chuckle.

"Sorry Kaira, but I didn't want him stumbling on that at a bad time. Much better to have it out now early on in a supportive environment than let it turn into a secret that doesn't come out until years into the relationship." Nolus said, now with a sagely tone of voice instead of a joking one.

"Yeah, you're right." Kaira said with a sigh. "You're really not bothered by it?" She asked again, turning back to Reg.

Reggie chuckled and gave her a comforting hug. "Of course I'm not bothered by it, Kaira. There is no reason for me to be."

"That's a big relief." Kaira said with a sigh just like the one Reg had given when Nolus had expressed his approval. She gratefully returned his hug.

"You've got nothing to worry about, Kaira," said Reg, still smiling wide. "But you'll see that in time."

Nolus sat down in the chair and offered them both bowls of the salad he had prepared. "I hate to interrupt this heartwarming moment, but what kind of dressing do you want on your salad Reg?"

Reggie chuckled. "Got Ranch, my good man?"

"Sure do!" Nolus said, teleporting the bottle onto the table in front of him. He sent Kaira a bottle of thousand island dressing in the same manner and she happily drenched her own salad with it.

Reggie proceeded to lightly cover his own salad in ranch dressing. "So, you're definitely the fun one of the bunch," Reggie said, looking at Nolus, "and Venius is the stick-in-the-mud type fella. So how would you characterize the other two?"

"Well my brother Opulous is quite possibly the biggest geek you could ever meet. He spends all his spare time in a laboratory, researching and developing new technologies. He's very emotionally distant but is also probably one of the most brilliant scientific minds I've ever met. And my brother Cygnus is the outgoing type, he's very social and loves to go hiking with people." Nolus said before digging into his own salad.

Reggie had dug into his own salad as well, enjoying it more than he thought he would. "So Opulous is quite possibly the greatest mind of the generation. Nothing wrong with being a geek when you've got THAT much backing you. Cygnus sounds like the kind of guy I'd take on a trip to go sightseeing in countries I haven't been to yet. This is good, by the way."

"Heh, most humans I've had as guests didn't like my salads, preferring something sweet or fattening. Good thing you're minding your health!" Nolus said in between bites, finishing his noticeably smaller portion relatively quickly.

"Well," said Reggie, chuckling, "I have to take care of myself every once in a while."

Nolus grinned as he finished his salad. "Including getting that umbrella! I saw that doctor's visit when I read your mind!"

Reggie laughed loudly after swallowing his next bite. This resulted in a short coughing fit as a bit of lettuce got stuck in the back of his throat. "Next paycheck! I promise!"

Kaira finished her salad next, so that Reggie was the only one still eating, and Nolus got up and took his own bowl and hers over to the sink.

"Watch this!" Nolus said, and sat down in the kitchen chair again as the sink filled itself up and the dishes began to wash themselves.

Reggie stifled another laugh, fearing another coughing fit, as he finished his own salad. "That is awesome in every way!"

"Look at him, showing off like he's the only one in K'telle who can do that!" Kaira said with a laugh. "If it's a show off contest you want Dad, you've got it!" She said, and then lifted every single piece of furniture in the room up with her mind and rearranging it.

Reggie, who was still seated on the couch, clinged to it and laughed yet again, reclining on it.

"Ok ok Kaira, let's stop before this turns into a 'let's see who can lift the most' contest, because frankly I don't have enough furniture in my condo to prove ourselves with!" Nolus said with a laugh, and Kaira slowly put the furniture back down.

Reggie, still laughing and out of breath, was lying on the couch, holding his stomach. "Aww, but that was fun!" He finally stopped laughing after several moments. "Let me count my blessings real quick: I get to date perhaps one of THE most awesome girls ever, who has THE most awesome DAD ever. I must have done something right somewhere!"

Kaira grinned and blushed a little at his flattery. "And I'm glad I get to date a guy who's properly good at compliments!"

Reggie smiled a silly, cocky smile. "I'm just good like that, I guess."

"You're giving the guy a big head!" Nolus said to Kaira with a laugh.

"Well compliments are important, and it's only fair to give him a few after he gave us so many!" Kaira said, sticking her tongue out at her dad playfully.

Reggie chuckled once more. "She has a point, though I like to dish out more than I get."

A console on the other side of Nolus's living room suddenly began to beep insistently to indicate a vid-phone call, and Nolus teleported over there in an eye-blink and answered it, keeping his voice low enough so that Reg couldn't hear.

Reggie stood up and stretched, shaking his head. "What a day this has been." He turned to face Kaira, still smiling. "I think we've kept your father long enough, wouldn't you say so?"

Kaira glanced over at the holoscreen to see who Nolus was talking to and frowned. "It looks like it's one of his political advisors, so yes we should go. If this is important he might be there for a few hours."

"Shame I can't say goodbye if he's busy. I'm sure you can relay the message, if necessary?"

Kaira stared at Nolus silently for a few moments. "There, done. He said he was glad to meet you." She lead him to the door and down the hall, eventually to the elevator.

Reggie made a gesture towards his head that basically translated to 'oh, duh'. "Forgot you can do that." He walked beside her to the elevator, actually anxious to see the view again.

"So, you really think I'm the most awesome girl you've met?" Kaira asked with a slight smile as the elevator door swished closed behind them

Reggie chuckled and gripped her hand, smiling. "I really do. I haven't known you for that long, I admit," he said, looking outside the elevator for a second before looking back. "But it feels right, at least to me. Something that feels this...correct can't be wrong, can it?" His eyes held genuine concern for a moment, a small fear, before his smile returned.

"Of course not! Besides, I can always psychically lift you up so we can see eye to eye!" Kaira said with a laugh, making a joke on the fact that she was nearly a foot taller than him.

Reggie chuckled. "Hey, my head makes up for my stature," he said as he glanced back out, looking to the farmlands again. "What is that...?"

A small cluster of dark clouds was forming out over the plains in the hazy distance, several flashes of Lightning lit it up brilliantly.

"Looks like a couple of wild Luxray are dueling out on the plains again." Kaira observed casually, not really bothered by it. "Either that or one of the wilds tried to challenge the leader of Lord Venius's pack for dominance. It happens every once in awhile, what with the skyrocketing population of Luxrays out on the plains. Their food sources have a hard time keeping up with their numbers and this causes them to fight."

Reggie shrugged it off and gently squeezed her hand. "So, about that flight home..."

"Well if you're that eager I'll just teleport us out of the elevator and we'll get started then!" Kaira said, impressed by his eagerness to conquer his fear. "You want me to make a surface for you to stand on again, or do you want to try weightlessness?"

Reggie shuddered slightly as he answered. "Let's try weightlessness. Might as well go all the way with this. You comin' too, or is this a one-man flight?"

"Of course, I'm the one who offered to fly you home! Now you might want to brace yourself, I'm going to teleport us now." Kaira said, giving his hand a little squeeze.

Reggie braced himself the only way he could think up: Gripping her hand and closing his eyes. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be!"

Kaira closed her eyes and for a split second the world seemed to melt into blackness around them. Then they reappeared back outside of the tower, emerging from the teleport, in midair above the city. Reggie's stomach shifted suddenly as if he had violently accelerated and then decelerated in the span of a second, and the weightlessness kicked in and added to the disorienting effect.

Reggie immediately grabbed her arm, letting out a quick yell. "Holy...what just happened? That was teleporting?"

"Yeah, was that your first time experiencing it?" Kaira asked curiously.

Nodding, Reggie slowly answered. "Yea, yea it was." He slowly let her arm go, sliding his hand back to hers. "That...was...wild..."

"Just don't let go of my hand and you'll be fine. Now what section of the city do you live in?"

"That way," and Reggie pointed in the direction they needed to go, apparently still shaken enough to lose his train of thought.

Kaira slowly descended toward the city skyline and they passed through the skylanes relatively unassailed, a few hovercars and flying K'tellians whizzed past but traffic wasn't that intense over that part of the city. Kaira followed his instructions exactly until they landed right at the front of Reggie's apartment complex.

"Well," said Reggie as he chuckled a bit, "that was far unlike any stroll home I've ever taken. Thank you."

"So do you want to do anything with me tomorrow after work? I have a full shift at the Sanctum and I imagine you have to work at the plant again. Maybe you'd like to go see Teyn?" Kaira asked hopefully.

"Sounds like a plan," Reggie replied, her hopeful look easily giving him a smile.

"Can I meet you at the plant, since I know it's in Teyn and we can just meet there?"

"Yea, that'll make it easy for both of us."

"Thanks for the fun time today, I'm glad you liked my dad." She said, giving him a powerful hug.

Reggie chuckled and returned the favor, happy and warm. "How can I not," he asked, still holding her close. "The man is fantastic."

Kaira held onto him for a few more moments, waiting to give him the opportunity to kiss her, and when he didn't she leaned down and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before letting go and walking away. "See you tomorrow!"

Reggie stared for a second, thrown off by the unexpected kiss, then ran up to catch up to her. "Kaira! Hang on a sec!"

"What is it?"

He stopped just in front of her, blushing madly. "Umm...I can only reach so high," he chuckled, still blushing a fine apple-like color.

"I could bend down, or do this!" She said with a laugh, lifting him up off of his feet with her mind so he could reach.

Reggie laughed lightly and slowly leaned in, still somewhat timid. He had never kissed Amanda, never felt a desire to. This was so very different to the way he thought things were. But then again, everything still felt right. And he didn't want to mess anything up. He took her hands without even realizing it as he leaned in further

It was weird feeling only three fingers entwining with his five, but they squeezed back gently to let him know that Kaira approved. She took the kiss slowly, letting Reg be the one in charge, and Reggie felt a little warm feeling inside his mind when he kissed her like that.

Reggie's mind then traveled to silly thoughts--how they must look to others, should anyone see, wondering if his family were watching this at all. These thoughts were quickly banished, however, as his mind replied with a simple statement: let them watch. He was happy, she was happy, that was what mattered to him. After what seemed like nearly an hour, he finally broke the kiss, his mouth in a silly smile, but his eyes showing surprise.

Kaira's face had blushed a deep red as well, she smiled as she lowered him to the ground. She stood there searching for words for a few moments, and then sputtered and laughed. "Sorry...I don't know how long it's been since I've done anything like this and I probably suck at it."

Reggie held up a hand, still smiling. "Kaira, you probably think that any guy will say this. And you might be right, but at least I mean this; it was perfect."

She blushed a little bit deeper and bent down to kiss him again, holding it a few more seconds before standing back up. "You're a sweetheart, you know that right?"

Reggie chuckled, stifling one of his playful replies for one more appropriate. "No, I'm not," he said, smiling, "I'm just a regular guy who managed to get very lucky."

"I guess the same could be said about me!" Kaira said, finally turning to leave again. "I know where the Montalbo plant is, I'll see you there tomorrow!"

Reggie nodded and waved as he said his goodbye, then turned towards the condo, a noticeable spring in his step.

* * *

As soon as he entered his dining room his group had nearly crushed him. Kip, Tiger, and Nadien had all pounced him instantly. Reggie was laughing yet again, embracing them all. Blaze had helped him up and patted his back, chuckling.

"They missed you, Reg!"

"So I've noticed," laughed Reggie in reply.

"Reg?" Blaze kept his smile, but his tone and his eyes conveyed a very different emotion: fear. "Can I talk to you in private?" Reggie's laugh stopped instantly.

"Sure, let's head to my room." He turned to the gang. "You guys sit here, I'll be back shortly." Blaze was practically running to the room, and Reggie broke into a run to keep up.

"Where's Luxtra? I haven't seen her anywhere yet."

"That's what I need to talk to you about," said Blaze as Reggie began to take his jacket off, his eyes remaining on Blaze.

"Oh no..."

"Yea, she hasn't come home." Reggie slowly brushed his hair back.

"Then that lightning storm--"

"You saw it too, then," Blaze asked, cutting Reg off.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing."

"I was in your room when it occurred. I could HEAR it for cryin' out loud!"

"You don't think--" Again, Blaze cut Reggie off.

"Yes, I do." Reggie began to pull his jacket back on swiftly. "And you're planning to go look for her, aren't you?"

"I'm not gonna just forget her. If she isn't home, then she's hurt somewhere."

"You've got work tomorrow, Reggie. You'll need your sleep." Blaze shook his head slowly. "I'll look for her."

"And what makes you think I'll be able to sleep without that giant beast crushing my arm or leg or whatever?"

"Hm. Good point, Reg."

"Stay home. Someone will have to take care of the crew while I'm gone for the night anyway. I'll be home in a bit."

"Alright. Stay safe out there, would you?"

"I'll be fine."

"It's getting dark, I mean it. Be back before it gets pitch-black, would you?"

"Alright. Hold the fort down while I'm gone."

* * *

Reggie returned later in the night than he expected. He had pushed himself yet again with simple logic, with encouraging statements. 'I can't quit now', he would tell himself, 'I can still find her'.

He was wrong. He couldn't find her.

He'd search again during the day, after work. He was sure that Kaira would understand. His work would probably suffer again, he'd be completely worried about Luxtra the entire day. Aturiel would notice, no doubt, not like he cared. Aturiel was understanding, but Reggie needed the money as it is. It was necessary that he work for a while, so he'd have to deal. As soon as he was out, however, he would search the fields again for Luxtra.

And, as expected, he got no sleep that night.


	7. Soaring Love

It was five minutes until the shift's end when Aturiel approached Reg with a worried look on his face. Reg's replacement at the smelter was getting suited up when Aturiel came up to Reg and tapped him on the shoulder.

Reggie hadn't really jumped, but he did turn his head swiftly. "Oh. What's up, man?" Reggie continued watching the display, watching for any pressure issues, or problems of any kind.

"I've been watching you today Reg, and you seem distracted. More than once you spaced a little, like your mind was on something else. You seemed so happy yesterday, what's going on with you today?"

Reggie sighed and tapped at a few more icons, keeping everything normalized. "Nothing major, Aturiel. I'll live. I just have a flood of things to do today."

"Come on Reg, you're the best human worker I have in here. I can't have you swinging back and forth between ecstatic and depressed all the time. I need you a your peak! Now if there's something wrong I'd hope you trust me enough to be truthful!"

"look," Reggie began, surprisingly calm suddenly as he turned to Aturiel, "I'll be fine. I told you, I just have a lot to do today, that's all. I'll be at my peak again in no time." As if to emphasize this, he fiddled with an icon without even looking at the display, regulating a small fluctuation.

"Ok, alright. I believe you bro. Just remember I can't afford to keep giving you half days and days off all the time! If there's something seriously wrong, I want to be the first person to know about it so we can handle it properly, ok?"

Reggie nodded. "You got it, my man." Reggie then turned back to his console, focused back on the panel. He really did need to get his mind in the game--and keep it there.

Once Reggie's shift replacement finished getting into his work clothes he patted Reg on the shoulder and gestured him toward the changing room where he could get back into casual clothes and clock out with his ID Card.

Reggie was quick to get his usual daily clothing on, knowing what the rest of the day had in store. He looked over to Aturiel after a couple seconds. "Something up, Man?"

"Yeah, I've been worried about the state of things lately. Our business has been booming lately, but I'm worried that all of that Tritanium is being used to build warships. I think we might be on the brink of war with the UHN."

Reggie sighed and rubbed his temples. "Well that's just fantastic," he replied, sarcasm lacing every word. "Like we need that..."

"I don't know for sure, but every time those haulers come in and take away our bricks of processed Tritanium, I get this terrible feeling of foreboding. All the ultimatums that we see on the news about the Alchemical furnace don't help. I don't know for sure, but I think that we might be in for an even bigger set of Tritanium orders in the near future."

"I can handle the orders," Reggie said, "but the sound of war isn't something I'd enjoy too much. I've got better things to do than worry about dying early. You know I wouldn't raise a hand to you or any other 'Two."

"Right, well we'll see what happens. Go get some rest and take care of that pile of things that's bothering you!"

Reggie nodded and began to head out, getting his jacket on and making his way out of the building

Once he made it out of the front doors and into the sunlight he'd see Kaira standing there to the left of the entrance waiting for him. A smile crossed her face when she saw him and she walked over and gave him a hug. "Hey Reg, ready for a little sightseeing?"

Reggie hugged back hard, but not enough to hurt her. "We've got a problem, Kaira."

Kaira's look of excitement faded into worry. "What, what is it? What's wrong?"

"Luxtra is missing, she never came home last night," he said quickly, practically not taking a breath, "and I'm thinking that she found the pride..."

"Oh no, that's bad. I've been around Venius's pride before, they're very violent and territorial. If your Luxtra tangled with them it could be very bad! We'll need to find her right away!"

Reggie nodded. "That was the plan, but I don't even know where to start except by the farms."

"How much land did you cover, and which quarter?"

"I'm not even sure, I was just gonna run through again. It was dark last time I looked, I could have missed her."

Kaira closed her eyes for a moment and tried to psychically locate Luxtra. After three whole minutes she sighed and opened her eyes with a dejected look on her face. "Well I can't find her psychically, not without some way for me to tell her apart from the rest of the numerous other Luxrays out on the plains. Do you have something of hers that I can use to get a fix on her aura with?"

"I doubt it, I've been wanting to buy her a collar, but she hates them...would her food bowl do? Jeez, I'm just lost..."

"Anything that she's touched within 72 hours will work. Come on, I'll teleport us over to your condo building. I remember where it is from yesterday." She said, offering Reg her hand again.

Reg took her hand gently, just looking at the ground. It would be faster than taking the tram anyway, and the sooner he got home the sooner he can begin the search.

The teleport was just as gut-wrenching as the first time, and it seemed to take just a fraction of a second longer than the last time before the world rematerialized around them again. They were standing in the lobby of the condo complex, just in front of the grav-lift. "I don't know which condo you live in Reg, so lead on."

Reggie swiftly stepped into the lift and had it take them to his floor as soon as Kaira was on board. He refused to let go of her hand, though -- it brought him comfort, and he needed that.

Kaira gave his hand a comforting squeeze as they walked down the hall. Her three fingers were still something different than reg was used to, but it still showed that she was worried about him. Once Reg had flashed his ID Card and the door slid open, she said "Ok, now just get me something she's touched recently! Anything will do!"

Reggie was quick to run into the kitchen area, searching for her food bowl. Blaze got off of the couch, eyes wide. "Well, at least Reggie is making new friends," said the Blaziken, chuckling.

"Oh wow, you can speak English! Impressive! My name is Kaira." She said, offering Blaze her hand.

Blaze shook her hand firmly. "What do you need? I noticed Reggie is killing himself looking for something in the cabinets."

"I'm going to help him track down his missing Luxray, and I need something that she has touched recently that I can use to read her aura with."

"Ah!" Blaze looked excited for a moment as he ran and grabbed the card from the desk in Reggie's room. "Reggie, stop looking, we have something better than whatever you still can't find!" Reggie ran up alongside Blaze, then immediately patted him on the back.

"At least one of us is thinking properly today. Thanks." Blaze nodded and handed the card over to Kaira.

Kaira saw the loving words printed on the card and stifled the urge to comment on how heartwarming it was. She found Luxtra's pawprint and put her hand on it, closing her eyes to concentrate for a moment. She stayed that way for several more moments, leaving Reggie and Blaze in silence.

Reggie and Blaze took a moment to look at each other, Blaze offering a comforting pat on Reggie's shoulder.

After a few more moments Kaira opened her eyes. "I found her, but she's a good distance away. I can teleport us most of the way but my energy is already partially drained from the last teleport and all of the searching I did, so we'll have to walk some of the way."

Reggie nodded, hope back in his eyes. "The sooner the better. Don't drain yourself too much, okay Kaira?"

Kaira took his hand again and teleported them a second time. This time it felt like they were hanging in limbo for a full second or two before re-emerging. Long blades of grass tickled their legs and a gentle breeze swept over them. Kaira suddenly looked a little pale. "Ok, follow me."

Reggie began to follow her as instructed, gently giving her hand a squeeze. "Kaira, are you okay?"

"Just a bit drained. I haven't teleported over distances like these for a long time and my abilities are a little out of tune from disuse." She said with a few deep breaths. "I don't use my powers for anything other than mind reading and healing at my job after all."

Reggie offered a smile, even though he was still worried. "Don't push yourself too much, y'hear?"

"Heh, don't worry. I know my limits. That's why I didn't take us the whole way! But It's sweet that you're worried about me. What about you, I think I can sense a little bit of tiredness in you, you weren't up all night searching were you?"

"Not searching ALL night," replied Reggie, shaking his head. "But I didn't sleep anyway." He took a look around as they were walking, hoping to find some sign of his Luxray.

Once they got closer to the site of the battle, evidence soon started turning up. There were burned patches of grass where lightning had struck and started small fires, and some grasses were torn up as if by claws of a whole pride running at full tilt.

"From what I can sense, the pride chased her for at least a mile." Kaira said, pointing to the signs of the pursuit

Reggie shook his head once more, fighting the urge to scream. "I hope we find her soon...this isn't good..."

They walked on for several more minutes until Kaira suddenly stopped and bent down to inspect the ground. She plucked a blade of grass and held it out to Reggie; it was encrusted with a layer of dried blood.

Reggie swallowed hard, pinching the bridge of his nose. "That's just not good...not at all..." He looked up and glanced around again, now afraid of what he might find.

"Come on, I can sense her life energy now and it's very faint!" Kaira said, breaking into a sprint.

Reggie began running right behind her, eager to find his Luxray but afraid of what he'd find nonetheless

After running a good distance they finally came across Luxtra, who was laying unconscious in the tall grass. Her body was scorched from lightning strikes in two places and there were many many bite marks encrusted with dried blood. Kaira came to a halt and knelt down to examine her.

Reggie immediately knelt at her side. He couldn't tell if she was unconscious or not, and he was certainly afraid to find out. "Oh God..." He stroked her in one of few uninjured spots on her back, afraid to move her at all. "No no no no no...please no..." He took one of her paws and stroked it gently, leaning down and whispering into the Luxray's ear. "Can you hear me? You awake, girl? C'mon, gimme a sign or something..."

"She's out cold and fading fast. I'm glad I saved my energy and didn't teleport all the way, it means I'll have enough energy to psychically heal her." Kaira said, picking a bite mark and laying a hand on it.

Reggie nearly didn't hear Kaira speaking. He was still whispering into his Luxray's ear, stroking her paw and praying silently that she'd make it. After a few seconds, he gently placed his forehead against her cheek.

Kaira's hand glowed slightly for a few seconds and when she raised it, the bite mark was gone. She put it on another injury and repeated the process. "I think I have enough energy to get them all." Kaira said quietly.

Reggie called Luxtra's name once more, and she stirred, even if barely. "That's right girl, hang in there, we'll get you back in good health in no time, I promise!" He took her paw and gave it a soft kiss, and Luxtra began purring quietly. "You'll be okay..."

Kaira healed the burn marks next and flecks of charred skin and hair simply fell off in her hands as the new healthy skin grew back. Once she had finally finished, Luxtra slowly began to regain consciousness and Kaira looked even paler than before

Reggie looked up, still stroking Luxtra's paw. "Kaira, you're not looking too good. Let's get her home, somewhere familiar. I can barely carry Luxtra, but both of you would kill me. C'mon." Reggie slowly slid his hands under Luxtra. "This might hurt a little, girl, but don't worry. I'll be right here the whole time, okay?" The only response he got was a quiet purr and a weak attempt to lick his hand. "Can you help?"

Kaira put her arms under Luxtra and helped lift her up. "I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm just completely tapped after that. We'll have to walk the whole way...Unless...Hold on, let's put her down for a second."

Reggie shook his head slowly. "If you're planning on lifting her psychically, no." He smiled up at Kaira. "First off, you've used enough of your energy as it is. Second, she'll be more comfortable if I carry her. I'd always carry her around until she became the size of a lion," he added with a chuckle.

"No, that's not it. I think I have my digital pad with me." Kaira said, digging in the pockets of her shawl. "If I can just...there!" She pulled it out and began fiddling with it.

Reggie nodded, still holding Luxtra as he slowly set her on the grass. "What's on your mind?"

"I'm just sending a quick alert mail here..." Kaira said. A few moments later a bright green flash of light filled the air in front of them and Nolus appeared out of a teleport.

Reggie jumped, not expecting it at all. "Nolus!" Luxtra stopped purring almost instantly, apparently frightened by the sudden flash of light.

"I came as soon as I got the alert." Nolus said. "I'll take care of this." He bent down and laid a paw on Luxtra and finished healing her the rest of the way, bringing her back to complete health and restoring her energy.

Reggie looked in astonishment as Luxtra got to her feet, looking healthy once again. She walked in circles for a couple seconds, then rubbed against Nolus, apparently in thanks. "She's okay?"

"Kaira fixed at least half of the problems before running out of energy, I took care of the rest. She should be fine now." Nolus said, patting Luxtra on the head.

Shortly after Nolus finished speaking, Luxtra trotted over to Reggie and pressed her head to his chest, purring loudly as he wrapped his arms around her neck, shuddering as he buried his face into her mane

"You're lucky you got to her in time, from what I can tell she was practically at death's door." Nolus said, going over to share some of his energy with Kaira, who looked like she was ready to pass out.

"Thank you both," he whispered, his voice broken. Luxtra sat down, leaning against him and purring loudly.

"Anything for you Reg." Kaira said, kneeling next to him and putting an arm around his shoulders

Reggie fought several sobs back down his throat, still shuddering as he wrapped an arm around Kaira as well, resting his head against her shoulder. "That was easily the scariest moment of my life..."

"Well I gave you enough energy to teleport home, so I think I'll leave you kids be. Call me if you need anything else!" Nolus said.

Reggie nodded as Luxtra lied at both Kaira's and Reggie's knees, purring and occasionally nipping at Kaira's knee playfully. "Thanks Nolus," Reggie said, still slightly broken. "I'll catch you later."

"You know Kaira gave every last drop of her energy for you Reg," Nolus said telepathically into Reggie's mind, "That should tell you how lucky you are." Nolus waved and then vanished in another flash of green light, having teleported back home.

Reggie smiled at the telepathic message once he was gone, and gently tugged Kaira into a hug, resting his head on her shoulder as best he can. "Y'know something, Kaira?"

"What's that?" Kaira asked with a smile.

He gave her a gentle squeeze as he responded. "I really am very lucky to have someone like you."

She grinned and returned his hug. "Same can be said about me. Now then, you ready for me to teleport us back with the energy dad gave me?"

Reggie nodded as Luxtra still lied against his legs, still nipping at Kaira's knees. "Yea, I'm ready."

Kaira patted Luxtra on the head and closed her eyes to concentrate again. They teleported again for the third time that day, and this time appeared in the hallways right outside the door to Reggie's room.

Luxtra immediately stood up, most of her sticking on end, which ended up giving Reggie an intense laugh, both of relief and hilarity. "I've NEVER seen her fur do that since she was a kitten," he said between fits of laughter. Luxtra simply went into his room, shaking slightly, and began to groom her fur.

"So, are you going to introduce me to the rest of your family?" Kaira asked.

He immediately nodded and rattled off the names of his crew. Tiger was first to tackle Reggie, as always. Nadien and Kip were next, and they all refused to let Reggie up, parking on different parts of his body with Tiger on his chest. "Guys, I DO need air too," laughed Reggie. Blaze was next, and he was certainly puzzled.

"How did you get up here without me noticing," asked Blaze.

"Teleported," was Reggie's simple reply.

"That was me!" Kaira said with a laugh, raising her hand like a kid in a classroom.

Blaze chuckled and picked tiger up so Reg could finally sit up, kip and Nadien perched on a knee each. "I never did introduce myself, Kaira. I am Blaze." He extended a hand once more.

"Nice to meet you. Did Reg teach you how to speak?"

"No, I went to school with him. Graduated with him as well."

Reggie nodded, smiling. "We've been through kindergarten all the way through high school."

"Wow, you guys have been friends for a long time! Not too many Pokemon make it through the human education system all the way." Kaira said, obviously impressed with Blaze

"Dedication can take anyone anywhere," said Blaze with his usual whistle. "I learned that at school as well."

"It's nice to meet you all!" Kaira said graciously. "Now how about that sightseeing trip we discussed earlier?"

Reggie nodded excitedly. "I'm all for it! Just let me go pester Luxtra again real quick, alrighty?"

"Sure, go ahead. We've got the rest of the evening after all!"

He smiled and went into his room, noticing that Luxtra was still trying to straighten her fur out. He began to stroke her, helping fix her fur and just to comfort her. "I'm buying you a collar, you know that right?" Luxtra grunted a response as Reggie continued. "We'll both go and pick one out tomorrow, that way you have one you like. Sound good?" Luxtra nipped at his hand then licked it, purring. "Good. I love ya girl. I'll see you tonight."

Reggie gave Luxtra another squeeze before he went back into the hall. "Ready when you are, Kaira!"

"Yeah, same here. I don't have energy left again, so shall we take the train?"

He nodded and turned to Blaze. "Feel like babysitting again?"

"Of course. You have your fun, I'll hold the fort down. You owe me big, though," laughed Blaze finally.

"Yea yea," responded Reggie playfully, "I'll keep it in mind, ya bum." He then turned to Kaira and gave her a massive hug. "Thanks again for the help. Shall we head out?"

"Yeah, you use the train every day so go ahead and lead the way!" She said, returning his hug and letting go so he could head out first.

* * *

Reggie swiftly climbed out of the train, his hand gripping Kaira's amidst the bustle of other egressing passengers. "You know the way to the tower, right?"

"Actually, When I told you we should wait to get off until a different stop, it was because I know there was a station in the tower's basement! We can find an elevator straight to the top!" Kaira said, leading him through the station.

"Oh, well lead on then," he said, laughing as Kaira lead the way.

Kaira pushed her way through the crowd and eventually they found a public elevator that wasn't occupied. She pushed the button for the top floor and the doors slid closed. There was another window but they could only see wall through it since they were still underground.

"Oh," Reggie said, smiling. "I forgot we're going rather high with this one too. A mile and a half, right?"

"Yup! This will take a bit even at a decent clip." Kaira said as the elevator kicked into motion and floors started moving past the window

"Well, this'll be one heck of a view, now won't it?" Reggie smiled and kept looking out the window, waiting to see how fast they'd be rising.

The floors that shot down past them seemed to accelerate at a frightening rate, and the grav-lift that operated the elevator hummed louder and louder. Eventually they passed through a section of roofing and the city appeared through the window, quickly dwindling underneath them as they rocketed upwards

"Holy--that's fast!" He stepped back, momentarily surprised, and nearly bumped into Kaira. He slowly approached the window again, hands against the frame, and watched as everything grew smaller.

Kaira came up beside him and looked out the window as well. After a few seconds the tip of the Sativan Tower became visible in the east and the Nascan Tower in the North, both just barely poking into view through the haze. "Hey look, there's our tower!"

He laughed and tried pointing towards it. "I see it, I see it! It DOES feel small from here, wow!"

"Teyn is an amazing city, the tip of this tower is only a few dozen feet from the siege shield that covers the city. Not close enough to reach out and touch, but still pretty close!" Kaira said proudly.

"That is so cool," Reggie said, still staring out. "Here's a fun question for you: what would happen if I DID touch the shield?"

"It'd feel like grabbing a power line." Kaira said with a laugh. "You'd barely have a hand left."

"Oh, well that's...nice..." He chuckled slightly. "Why is information like that usually amusing?"

"Years of slapstick comedy on the TV I think. Say, how would you like to take a trip up into orbit?"

Reggie spun around to face her, amazed. "You can do that?! How? Where? When?"

"We can rent a small shuttle and take a ride up to see the K'tellian space station, there are lots of ships for hire up at the spaceport at the top of the tower!"

"That's gotta cost a fortune though," said Reggie, "I can't see that happening anytime soon."

"Well I'm the daughter of one of the 4 founding brothers! I'm not exactly poor." Kaira said with a tinge of shame, as if admitting one of her own personal character flaws.

"I know, but even still. Dinner I can see, but I couldn't let you pay for a shuttle ride, at least not the whole thing. I'd have to help out somewhere, Kaira."

"Hey, didn't you say that you weren't gonna be stubborn ALL the time?" Kaira said with a sideways grin. "Don't I get a turn?"

Reggie laughed heartily at her response. "I guess you do." Reggie smiled and brushed his hair back. "Something is gonna die inside of me, I know it," he said with a chuckle.

The elevator finally slid to a stop and Kaira gestured to Reg to follow her. "How much do you know about the 8 space stations around Earth Reg?"

He followed behind her, remembering back to his high school years. "I know that they were built by Ares for the Blue River, a sort of gate for dimensional travel, right?"

"That's right. The Blue River is basically a massive dimensional rift molded into the shape of a ring that orbits the Earth, and the 8 space stations are what operate it and keep it stable and up and running. Whenever someone needs to send a ship through, they encase it in a G diffusion field and inject it into the ring portal, at which point it accelerates to near-light speeds and orbits the Earth completely a few hundred times before being spat out in the target dimension." Kaira explained as they walked through the halls towards the spaceport.

"Thank Heaven for G-diffusion. Being a splatter on the back wall isn't something I'd consider healthy." Reggie shook his head at the thought as he followed close behind. "Can't say I've ever been in space before, so this'll be fun!"

"It costs even more to actually ride the Blue River though, so for now we're just going to go sightsee around the station." Kaira said as they emerged into a bustling lobby. "Besides, I have a nifty idea for something we can do that'll blow your mind!"

"If this is another prankster-type idea of yours, then this'll end up more fun than I originally thought." Reggie playfully tugged on her hand, still following beside her. "I won't ask you to spoil the surprise though."

They squeezed their way through the crowd and eventually made it up to a reception desk. A somewhat stressed looking K'tellian behind the counter addressed them. "Commercial or tourist departure?"

"Tourist please, we want a small shuttle for a little sightseeing. Private." Kaira said, pulling out her ID card.

"2500 Credits." The receptionist said blandly, and scanned her card.

Reggie very nearly tripped on his own feet when he heard the price. He whispered so that the receptionist wouldn't hear. "Yea, something inside of me JUST died," he said with a soft chuckle.

"I told you, it's nothing!" Kaira said, putting her card away once the receptionist finished scanning it.

"I'll take your word for it, Kaira," he replied, the smile never leaving his face.

"Your ship is in dock 7B, port 35." The receptionist droned. "It's ready to leave whenever you are.'

"Thanks, we'll have it back in one piece, I swear!" Kaira joked, leading Reg away.

He followed close behind, eager to get onto the shuttle. "I'm very tempted to ask just what you have in mind. But I won't."

They walked on for several more minutes, passing into a branch of passageways that emerged from the top of the tower where ships could dock. The main hallway had a transparent floor that Kaira pointed to. "Take a look, you can see the roofs of the city buildings down below us now!"

Reggie inched a bit closer to Kaira, the transparent floor just enough to frighten him a bit. "Wow, that's one heck of a view..."

They walked on a little more before leaving the main hallway and heading down another branch, reaching a smaller airlock with an ID Card reader. Kaira flashed her card again and the computer beeped for a few seconds before the airlock doors swished open and granted them access.

Reggie smiled with anticipation, nearly bouncing as he walked. He had never been this high up, nor had he ever been in space. He was very eager to give this a shot, and seeing the planet from outside the atmosphere was bound to be an amazing sight for him to behold.

The inside of the shuttle was very cramped, the receptionist had noticed that there were only 2 people in their group and allocated them a 2-person craft. The walls were an even flat Tritanium silver color and the seats were much bigger than human size, having been designed to accommodate Mewtwo anatomy. There was even a big hole in the back of Reggie's seat where a tail would normally fit through. Kaira gently made herself comfortable in the pilot's chair and gestured for Reggie to sit next to her.

He was certainly eager to sit next to her, but something else had caught his attention. "Okay, on top of being the most awesome girl ever, you're royalty AND a pilot?!"

"These private shuttles are pretty easy to drive, it's not too much harder than driving a modern hover car. It just requires a few extra lessons and an exam. Besides, 78 years gives you a long time to develop various skills!" Kaira said, pulling a secure harness over herself and clicking it in place tightly.

Reggie began pulling his own harness in place as well, laughing. "You have a good point. Why does this feel big on me?" He laughed, knowing the answer, but feeling a need for a wisecrack. "And I like how they have premade holes, just in case I get the crap scared outta me."

"That's for a tail, which you don't have, and it's the reason why I couldn't take you through the Blue River in this shuttle anyway! Can you imagine what the G forces would do to you when there's a big hole in your seat? You'd be pulled right through even with the G diffusion field!"

He laughed loudly at the thought, doing what he can to tighten his harness as best he can. "I know, but still. Amusing to think about."

Once Kaira was sure they were both properly secured she reached down and pressed the only physical button on the control panel. The little holo projector lens on the console sparkled to life and an entire holographic control panel appeared in front of Kaira, complete with holographic steering sticks and digital status readouts on the rest of the ship.

Reggie found himself drawn to the holographic console. Somehow, even after working with one during his time at Montalbo, this had amazed him. "That's wild..."

"You should see some of the control systems they have in the bigger ships!" Kaira said. "I was on a massive freighter once and their bridge had a huge holographic diagram of Earth that you could plot a course on just with the stroke of your hand!" Kaira said, examining the readouts before launch.

"That's just amazing! Those things still surprise me..."

Kaira ran a few more pre-flight checks, then psychically contacted flight control to get clearance to take off. Once she had obtained it she hit the holographic button to activate engines and a smooth loud humming filled the cockpit as the ship burst to life.

Reggie simply gripped his seat, eager to get moving. "How fast can this thing go anyway?"

"I don't know, I've never flown this model before. Want to find out?" Kaira said with a mischievous grin.

Reggie smiled and put on a grin of his own. "I say punch it."

"Heh, you got it!" Kaira said with a glimmer of excitement in her eyes. She hit the holographic button for undocking and there was a gentle thump and a clang as the clamps released.

Kaira slammed the holographic sticks forward they were both shoved back into their seats as the shuttle accelerated upwards. Several other smaller ships and a large freighter whizzed past them and the clear blue sky filled the viewport in front of them.

"HAHAHA! GOGO!"

Kaira pushed the engines into the red and they rocketed upwards faster and faster. The sky quickly started to fade out into darkness as they pushed into higher altitudes and the readouts beeped furiously. "Whoohoo! This one's got a kick!" Kaira shouted excitedly.

"Dang right, she does!" Reggie laughed and applauded as the expanse of space became more visible. "This is AWESOME!"

Once the atmosphere had faded away sufficiently a thin little line of blue light became visible in the distance. Kaira pointed to it eagerly and said "Look, there's the Blue River!"

Reggie immediately looked towards it, excited. "It's amazing...wow!"

The little blue line of light quickly grew in their perspective as they approached, turning from pencil-thin to at least 100 feet in diameter. It was a huge maelstrom of churning blue power, half encased with a series of power collection grids, that looked as if it could burst from its containment at any moment. A few more miles distant Reg could see the shimmering lights of the K'tellian space station, along with the lights of several large ships around it.

"Kaira," asked Reggie quietly, "How often do you do this?"

"Not very often, I think it's been about a year since I've been up here." Kaira replied, not taking her eyes off of the viewscreen.

"I think I know where to put my trip money," he said with a chuckle. "This is unbelievable...thank you for taking me out here."

"Heh, here you are with your mind blown and I haven't even gotten to the best part yet!" Kaira said with a snicker. "Wait until we get to the station, you'll be able to see the Alchemical Furnace that the UHN has been so upset about recently!"

Reggie began bouncing yet again, smiling wide. "I can't wait!"

It took a few more minutes before they reached the station, but the whole thing was so large that it was clearly visible even from such a long distance. The bottom half was mostly T shaped, with a large hexagonal juncture that connected to the Blue River and a disc-shaped top. The top half was one massive spherical Tritanium dome that housed the furnace. It had several small cooling chambers sticking out of it and a large door on the top where reactive matter could be added to the chamber and melted down. There were several large shipyards hovering in space around it with large warships in various states of construction, and thousands of different sized freighters milling about carrying the raw materials output by the furnace.

"Well, it's NOTHING like I imagined..." Reggie leaned as far as he could (which wasn't far) and watched the Furnace, staring at it in pure awe. "It's huge..."

"It can process about 50 tons of matter at full capacity, it's Lord Opulous's pride and joy." Kaira said with patriotism leaking out of her voice again.

"Apparently rightly so."

They flew through the swarms of freighters and got closer to the furnace. Reg could see the individual cooling chambers sticking out of the main hull where the subatomic plasma was allowed to reform into matter. Some of the chambers were open and disgorging huge blocks of various solid metals and other raw materials, while others were closed and operating furiously with several lines of coils glowing bright blue on their surfaces.

Having never seen the Furnace this close, or at all, all he could do was stare in awe and occasionally sputter bits of words that sounded like amazed praise, but always got caught on his tongue before dying out. He was already pressing against his harness, but he hadn't realized it as he attempted to lean further forward.

Kaira took them in a full circle around it before flying upwards to get a good view of the top. There was a cylindrical no fly zone around the big double doors at the top where civilian craft weren't allowed, so Kaira parked them right at the edge so they could watch. A large freighter ship had just arrived after a long trip from the solar system's asteroid belt and it was towing a massive asteroid behind it. Its engines were blaring away at full capacity as it struggled to haul the massive craggy hunk of rock towards the doors to the furnace.

"Wow, check it out! It looks like we might get to see them putting a new dose of fresh matter into the reactor!" Kaira said excitedly.

Reggie, already leaning in as far as he can, struggled against his harness as he chuckled. "This'll be good!"

The freighter's horizontal thrusters burst to life and slowly spun it around so that the asteroid was brought around to the doors, and a blindingly bright line of light appeared as the doors began to crack open. Their shuttle's viewscreen automatically dimmed to keep it from blinding them, and the light brilliantly illuminated all of the carious caverns and crags on the asteroid's surface in a wash of intense whiteness.

Reggie instinctively squinted despite the dimmed screen, but opened his eyes back up to watch the spectacle. It was sheer brilliance to him, a completely new experience. He glanced at Kaira who seemed to be enjoying herself as well, which brought some warm feelings inside of him. He looked back towards the Furnace, taking in every moment, knowing he wouldn't forget it.

The light of the reaction inside the furnace poured out unrelentingly as the doors spread open completely, and the freighter slowly fired its thrusters to shove the asteroid inside. Once the asteroid was only a few dozen feet away from the entrance the back end of it began to heat up bright red, then white as the column of heat from the furnace began to hit it. It was halfway to liquification when the clamps that held it to the freighter burst free with a few tiny explosive charges, propelling it the rest of the way inside. Its shadow only blocked the column of light for a few more seconds before it was entirely vaporized into plasma inside the furnace, and the double doors quickly crawled shut before any of it could leak out. The rear end of the freighter was glowing red slightly too and venting clouds of boiling coolant as it quickly flew away to cooler space.

"I don't think I've ever seen THAT happen before." Kaira said with a satisfied nod, "It was totally awesome."

Reggie laughed loudly as Kaira spoke before replying. "I haven't seen ANY of this before, and it definitely IS awesome!"

The lights all over the entire station dimmer for a second, and then turned back on at double their original intensity as the reaction chamber adjusted to handle the new fuel and Kaira watched a bit longer before turning the around and flying back down to the bottom of the station.

"We've been so occupied sightseeing that we still haven't gotten to that really kickass surprise I promised you! Are you ready for an even wilder ride than our takeoff?"

Reggie laughed even harder, though even he wasn't completely sure why. "I think that's the first time you've ever cursed in front of me! But yes, I am!"

"Well I'm not out in the general public anymore am I? Now let me just fiddle with these controls here and we'll be ready to go." Kaira input a few co-ordinates into the holographic panel and then began to unbuckle herself from her seat.

Reggie looked over, still laughing slightly. "What are you doing? If it's gonna be a wilder ride, I'd think surviving it would make it more fun!"

"Oh, you'll see. Get yourself unbuckled too and follow me, we're going to take a little space stroll!" Kaira said, finishing her fiddling before climbing back towards the airlock.

He was quick to unbuckle his harness and get right behind her, a wide smile on his face. "Ohhh, no way, you're kidding!"

"No joke! I may be low on energy still right now, but these shuttles are designed with space walkers in mind. If I put my hand here in this little console there's a Triton 3 inductor that'll give me a psychic recharge. I'll make a psychic bubble to keep in breathable air and heat, and we'll have no big space suits obstructing our view!" Kaira said, pointing to the console.

Reggie was now hopping with excitement, laughing. He quickly realized how easily Kaira was able to pull out the kid in him. It felt fantastic to forget all of his worries and just let loose and have fun. "Let's do this!"

Kaira stuck her hand inside the little indentation in the holoconsole and it glowed brilliantly blue for several seconds. After she was done recharging she lead him into the airlock, created an airtight psychic bubble, and filled it with every molecule of oxygen that she could pull out of inside the airlock. She psychically pressed a few buttons on the control panel and the outer door opened up with a violent hiss.

"Ready? On three!" Kaira said, stepping towards the open outer door with him

Reggie smiled and took her hand, still anxious to leap. "On three. I'm rather tempted to just say 'three'."

"Well why not! Three!" Kaira said, and they both took a flying leap out of the door. The artificial gravity holding them down vanished the moment they leapt from the ship, and they gently spiraled together inside the transparent bubble into the vast blackness. Kaira simply let them drift for a few moments so Reggie could enjoy the feelings of weightlessness.

And enjoy it he did. At first he tried to grab nothing in particular, but quickly figured out that there really was nothing to grab. He then just lied flat, spinning slightly. "Woo, I have no idea where I'm going," he said with a laugh.

Kaira mimicked a swimming motion with her arms and legs, not getting anywhere, and laughed along with him. "This is fun and we haven't even gotten around to the exciting part yet!"

"And what, my dear lady, is the exciting part," asked Reggie with a grin.

"Well, you remember I told you that the Blue River acts as a massive matter accelerator as well as a portal right? We don't necessarily have to be inside it to feel its effects, we can just fly close to it!" Kaira said, finally taking control and flying them up towards the blue maelstrom.

"Oh God, ohgodohgodohgod," Reggie repeated, getting louder and laughing more the nearer they got to the Blue River, "This is gonna be NUTS!"

The swirling azure storm started pulling on them immediately once they passed a certain distance and it dragged them both forward at a speed that made them both fall back against the boundaries of the airtight bubble. Kaira had to be careful to control how close they got, otherwise the G forces would make them pass out as they accelerated faster and faster, pressing harder against the back of the bubble. The space station quickly shrank and vanished behind them as they blasted through space leaving a lavender contrail of Kaira's aura behind them.

Reggie was quick to look back, watching the station shrink in the distance as they accelerated. He laughed loudly, enjoying the feeling, and finding it funny to be pressed against the back of a bubble in space.

They kept on accelerating faster and faster, until the Earth seemed to start spinning faster than normal underneath them as they orbited. Soon the lights of a whole different space station came up in front of them and Kaira had to pull away to avoid hitting it.

"Whoo! We just covered a few thousand miles in less than a minute!" Kaira laughed, her face pale from the blood being forced out by their acceleration.

Reggie joined in her laughter, slightly dizzy but enjoying himself just the same. "That was absolutely nuts!"

"We're not through yet, not until we make an entire orbit!" Kaira said enthusiastically. They weaved around the station and zoomed back in close again, picking up even more speed. "This river doesn't flow the other way, and it'd take much longer to fly on my own power back!"

"Oh, I'd imagine so," screamed Reggie as they picked up speed once more. "I'm definitely saving up for another trip like this!"

Kaira made sure that the magnitude of their acceleration never got dangerously high, but they still kept gaining velocity until the Earth seemed to twirl below them and they passed three more space stations in quick succession. After several more seconds she let them drift away from the Blue River to coast on momentum alone, still streaking through space, and they began to descend towards the atmosphere. "Guess what we're going to be using as a brake!" She yelled

Reggie's face twisted into a wide smile, a sort of incredulous happiness. "No way...just no way," he yelled back, laughing. "Ohhhh, this'll be good."

The Earth quickly swelled up beneath them as they plummeted downwards and Europe passed underneath them. Kaira took him by the hand and spread her arms out like a skydiver as the atmosphere began to scream over the bubble in huge tongues of flame. Soon they couldn't see anything other than the massive orange glow around them and the roar of the friction filled their ears, drowning out Kaira's exhilarated yells.

Reggie gripped her hand tightly, spreading his own limbs as well, screaming at the top of his lungs, seeing if he can beat the scream of the friction, not quite succeeding. Nonetheless, he kept screaming as loud as he could out of pure enjoyment.

By the time the flames died down they had already passed the rest of Europe and all of North America and were screaming through the sky across the pacific, the air still roaring past them deafeningly and clouds lashing across the bubble. The ocean sparkled beautifully below them as they rocketed west towards Japan. Suddenly Reg heard Kaira's soundless telepathic voice inside his head, "Now grab both my arms and hold on tight!"

Reggie gladly did as he was told, holding on tightly and unable to stop laughing as he watched the world fly by at such speeds.

Kaira drew him in closer and created a short horizontal boost that sent them into a crazy spin, the two of them shooting through the air together like a missile. Slowly the shores of K'telle crept up on the horizon as the atmospheric friction against the bubble slowed them down, and Kaira gently halted their spin as they zipped up over the shore and over the K'tellian grasslands, now only suspended a few hundred feet in the air.

Breathing heavily, winded by his own laughter and screaming, Reggie glanced up at Kaira, wild excitement still in his eyes. "Am I dreaming or did all of that just happen?!"

"That was as real as the ground below us! It took most of the energy I got from the shuttle, but here we are!" Kaira said, now flying them both towards Sativa on her own power as the last bit of momentum faded out.

"If we weren't in plain view," said Reggie as he gave Kaira's hand a gentle squeeze, "I'd hug you and never let go until my joints rotted away."

Kaira glanced around quickly for any ships or hovercars in the air around them, and since they hadn't quite made it over the city yet, she hugged him anyway. "Just until we make it to the Sativa Siege Shield." She whispered.

Reggie gladly wrapped his arms around her, holding her as close as he could. "Better than not at all."


	8. When the World Ends

Reggie slowly opened his eyes as he was shaken rapidly. He rolled quickly and looked up to see Blaze shaking him violently.

"Reggie, you need to get up NOW."

"What the...what's going on?"

"Just get up, you need to see this newscast..." Reggie got up and followed Blaze to the living room. A quick glance at the wall clock revealed that it was only 3 in the morning. He had no idea Blaze watched the news that late. But then he heard some words trailing into his ears before he had reached the bottom of the staircase.

"For those of you just tuning in, a small flotilla of Japanese sea ships attacked the small K'tellian fishing town of Tyra. Seven light cruisers believed to be built and operated by the Hoenn Defense Force approached from the south and struck Tyra with long range plasma bombardment, catching them completely by surprise and leveling the town flat. There are no survivors out of the small population of seventy, and a large squadron of K'tellian bombers caught the Hoenn ships off guard with a stunningly fast counter-attack, sinking five of them and forcing the other two to retreat. A general alert has gone out across the Sodalis, and the Four Brothers have declared the attack an act of war and are expected to draft a formal declaration of their own against Japan within the hour. We have heard no word from Kurtis Genning of Hoenn or any of the other Japanese Government officials, but it is safe to assume that the attack has something to do with the constant ultimatums that the UHN has been making about the Alchemical Furnace."

Reggie flipped off the TV, having heard enough. He was appalled at it; as far as he was concerned, the Alchemical Furnace was nothing to start a war over. And yet, here was Japan launching strikes.

It was so ironic...and it brought several things to light as well.

The first thing he realized was that it was mainly humans who decided to attack. In fact...it was ONLY humans. And he couldn't figure out why, the 'Two's were peaceful. They were also amazing people.

People...he considered them people. Equals in every respect. They were psychic, flying people who had emotions, feelings...and loved ones. Amazing how the announcement of a war brought this into such a different light now...and what effect would this have on Kaira and him?

This brought upon him another realization: that relationships between humans and Mewtwos here were already considered abnormal and disgusting, and the war could only intensify these sentiments. When he thought of possibly losing Kaira, it nearly brought him to tears right then and there. He was afraid of it, genuinely saddened by the thought... he loved her. He really loved her.

He had known this girl for a length of maybe three or four days, yet he was so afraid of losing her that he felt he'd die. This girl who is so different... yet so much the same...

His thoughts quickly traveled to the day before. During the space 'walk'. The fun he had with Kaira was unmatched by any other moment in his life. He remembered how he felt when he held her close afterwards. It was silly how he didn't realize it then that he was deeply in love with her. He had held her close and was unwilling to put any distance between them, even if it be merely inches. He just wanted to be close to her...never wanted the moment to end. And now moments like that would be harder to come across with the tension caused by this war. What if someone saw? What would they think, or say? Now every moment would truly mean something.

He wasn't about to let that get to him, however. He would still do what he could to enjoy his time with such a wonderful... person. He smiled absently at the thought. Indeed, as far as he was concerned, Kaira was a person to him. To hold and love and cherish.

This war would indeed be Hell. And he didn't have to participate. He wouldn't. He would never raise a hand to the 'Two's or other humans, he was going to stay out of it entirely.

"Reggie," came Blaze's voice out of nowhere. Reggie shook his head as he snapped back into reality with a jerk.

"Yea, I'm here."

"I'm curious..."

"What is it?"

"You said Kaira's name a few times when you spaced out. What is your relationship with her, Reggie?" Blaze was concerned, and most likely already knew the answer. He was a perceptive bird.

"Girlfriend..."

"Is that all she is to you?"

"What do you mean?" Reggie was almost apprehensive now. He had to remind himself that he was talking to Blaze.

"Just 'girlfriend' doesn't seem like the truth here. She means more to you than that. I can see that, I saw it in your eyes that day she came over." Blaze gently gripped Reggie's shoulder. "You hold her in a much higher regard, don't you?"

Reggie sighed quietly and nodded. "Blaze?"

"Yea man?"

"I love her. I really love her." Reggie looked down at his bare feet for a few seconds. "I've been in love with her since yesterday. She's amazing, incredible, wonderful, I can't do her justice with just words..."

"What a time to develop feelings for a 'Two," said Blaze with a soft chuckle. "You realize how hard things will be, Reggie? With war more than just breathing down our necks?"

"I know. But I'll be damned if I'll let go of someone that...beautiful..."

"I'd expect that kind of descriptor for one of your own kind."

"I'm not talking looks, but she does look nice... easy on the eyes, I think, is the right way to say it. But I mean HER...SHE is beautiful, not her skin... err, fur, whatever." Reggie nearly leapt off of the couch, his speech becoming a little loud.

"I feel incredible when I'm around her! She makes me feel like I can fly, and then she DOES make me fly! And not just in the air, in SPACE, Blaze! Space! We flew!" He was spinning around the living room now as he spoke, no longer caring how loud he got. Blaze had a subtle smile at the corners of his beak.

"It was amazing! The feeling I had when I flew with her... no more worries... no sadness... I was happy..." He quieted down and slowly sat on the floor where he stood. "But now war is breaking out... what if she hates me? Blaze, what if she hates me and my kind for our crime?"

Reggie was on the verge of a mental breakdown, and Blaze could see that. He quickly went over to his father, as he considered him, and wrapped his arms around him.

"Don't you dare think such a thing, Reggie," said Blaze after a few moments. He pulled back to look directly into Reggie's eyes. "You love her, do you not?"

"Yes," said Reggie as he nodded quickly, wiping his eyes.

"Do you think she loves you too," asked Blaze quieter, still locking eyes with Reg.

"Yes, I do."

"Then fear NOTHING, Reggie." Blaze pulled Reggie to his feet. "Don't you let anything at all put any fear into your soul. If she loves you, then she'll come through for you."

"I don't mean to doubt her," Reggie said, composed as he spoke, "I never did mean to doubt her. It's just...this attack is gonna lead to war... I won't be accepted anywhere, and why would Kaira want to be with me? It'll destroy her reputation! The other 'Twos will shun her! I can't let that happen to her."

"Let me tell you something about love, Reggie." Blaze sat Reggie down next as he paced back and forth in front of him. "It's stronger than anything. War... the Furnace... the very fabric that holds this dimension together... all of it is nothing compared to love."

"But--"

"'But' nothing, Reggie. If she loves you, she will FIGHT for you. Do you love her?"

"Yes!"

"Then you'll fight and fight and fight until you can't fight anymore, then you'll fight some more whether you can or can't take anymore."

Reggie was silent for several seconds. A smile slowly creeped onto his face.

"I know you love her," continued Blaze, quieter once more, "and it is for that reason that I know you'll fight for her. You're stronger than anyone I know... you'll make it through this. And I know that I'll be long dead before you let her slip away."

Reggie nodded slowly, still smiling. "Yea...you've got me on that one. I'm a stubborn mule."

Blaze laughed quietly, if only to keep from waking the others up. "You're certainly right about that."

"I can hold on for her. I will. I love her, and I'll show her. Maybe I'll even have the guts to TELL her." added Reggie with a hearty laugh. Blaze joined and patted Reggie on the back.

"There's the Reggie I know. Now go get some sleep, you've got work in a few hours. I'll keep watching the news in case any new developments arise."

"Alright, Blaze. Thanks."

"Don't thank me, Reggie. Thank the one who gives you strength: Kaira."

"You helped."

"Nonsense. I simply reminded you that you are loved. And by your love interest, no less."

"But...how would you know?"

"Luxtra explained everything to me. She told me how much Kaira was willing to give to help you and make you happy. Oh, and don't forget to buy her a collar." Reggie chuckled at this reminder. "Yea, you forgot again."

"I did. Thanks for the cranial sticky note."

"Anytime. Now go to sleep." Reggie went back to his room and fell into his bed with a heavy sigh. Blaze was right. He knew it.

But that didn't change the nagging of the upcoming war. He slept well at least, and had sweet dreams of Kaira, she and he just spending time together in space, just like the day before.

* * *

For the most part Reggie's work day was far better than he had thought. Aturiel had announced what the newscaster had mentioned in the morning, and he could swear he got a couple of dirty looks from his 'Two coworkers, but he shrugged it off as paranoia. Over the course of the day Aturiel made periodic announcements on developments in the war, including Japan's official declaration of war on K'telle, Kt'elle's return declaration, and declaration of several other nations allied with Japan. By the time Reggie's shift had ended there were five nations allied with Japan against K'telle, including France, Germany, China, England and Russia. To Reggie's relief, his home state, the US, had stayed neutral so far. But it was impossible to know if it would stay that way and that bothered Reg a lot. But thankfully, the rest of his shift went by without incident. There were no further attacks, nobody yelled at him, and nothing went wrong with the smelter. Then, when his shift was ending, something happened to catch Reggie completely by surprise.

He made his way to the lockers as usual, grabbing his casuals, when Aturiel joined him.

"What's up, my man," asked Reggie as he grabbed his jacket.

"Nice to see you back at your best, even despite recent news," replied Aturiel.

"I don't think we'll have to worry too much. We've got Opulous's tech keeping us safe and the news reports have been talking a lot about how quickly the alchemical furnace will let us build an armada."

"That's true," said Aturiel thoughtfully. "Aren't you afraid of some 'Two's just hating you because you're human?"

"If they hate me for that, then that's their problem, now isn't it?" Reggie smirked, a sort of emphasis to his point.

"Well, at least you got that right," laughed Aturiel. "You've got a visitor by the way. She's waiting for you outside."

"Oh! Okay then, I better get going!"

Reggie had a wide smile plastered on his face suddenly as he bounded out of the plant, but his expressions changed as suddenly as he had stopped moving.

"Hey Reggie," said Amanda. Reggie swiftly composed himself.

"Amanda? Why are you here?"

"What, I can't visit a friend every once in a while?" Amanda faked a hurt look, smiling slightly.

"I suppose...well, follow me then. I need to get Luxtra so we can pick out a collar."

"I thought she hated those."

"She does. But it's become necessary." He continued leading on to the train, climbing down the stairs to the station.

"But why?"

"I'd rather not get into that." They climbed onto the train as Amanda sighed.

"Alright."

* * *

The trip to and from the house was mostly silent except for Blaze greeting Amanda, though with a slight anger that only Reggie would percieve. Luxtra stayed close to Reggie, practically refusing to let Amanda pet her. Finally, halfway to the shop, Amanda spoke up.

"Reggie, we need to talk."

"What have you got in mind," Reggie asked politely, turning his head to look at her.

"I... may have been hasty in breaking up with you." Reggie was interested suddenly in what she had to say, he had to admit. "It wasn't right of me to break up over something that you couldn't control."

"Hmm."

"I was wrong...especially after the report I saw, I know I was wrong."

"I never expected to be right."

"But you still were. I was a fool."

"You were just stating what you believed, Amanda," replied Reggie. She nodded slowly.

"Would you come back to me?" Reggie suddenly stopped. He could swear he also heard Luxtra growl.

"Wait, what?"

"I want you to come back."

"Amanda, I can't--"

"I can understand that you might need time," she said, cutting him off, "and I can give you that time."

"Amanda, stop. I can't take you back."

"Why not," she asked, concerned. "Have you found someone else..."

Reggie sighed. He had to word this carefully or risk letting 'the cat out of the bag' as the old saying goes. "I have."

"Oh..." Reggie silently thanked the powers that be that she didn't press further. She was quiet for the rest of the trip.

Luxtra had picked out a black and blue collar (it was a wonder that they found one that fit) to match her fur. Reggie had a good laugh at the fact that she purred the whole way home. Amanda seemed to enjoy that fact too. It seemed she did miss him and the gang, but Reggie knew that somewhere inside she was hiding another motive.

He was right. He had stopped outside the condo and sat on the walk outside, Luxtra sitting behind him and occasionally swatting his back for no reason at all. Amanda stood beside him and finally spoke up once more.

"Reggie, come to the States with me at least..." Reggie almost stood right there, infuriated at her forwardness as well as the suggestion. He bit his tongue for several seconds to cool off.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, I'm not. The UHN is about to ban all human citizens of K'telle from returning to their countries of origin. The US isn't involved in the war yet, but the moment they do get involved we're both going to be stuck here." Reggie's jaw dropped. "I can pay your way, Reggie. Just come back with me."

If this was true, then he had mere days to decide what he wanted for the rest of his life. There was no telling how many he had, it could be one or it could be a week. Here he sat where he was comfortable, yes, but what about home? To be home again...he'd been saving up for a flight home. And here she was offering to pay for him. It wouldn't cost him a thing to go home now, it was all just a word away. All he had to do was say 'yes' and he'd be going home...

But what about Kaira? His heart was hers as far as he was concerned, he couldn't just leave her behind.

But his FAMILY was in the States, his mother, father, and his sister. How could he just leave them in the dust as well?

He could say yes. He could go home to his family and still keep in touch with Kaira. But that would be the same as abandoning her.

But saying no would equate to abandoning his own family, he thought. But he'd still be with Kaira, and she made him happy...

He soon realized that this was no easy choice. Both were give-and-take situations, both had their costs, and both of the costs were indeed heavy.

He looked up to Amanda. "How long do you think it will take before the US gets involved in the war and falls under the ban?"

"There's no way to be sure, but it looks like maybe three days, possibly four. That's only my own personal hunch though."

"So it's a rush then..."

"Basically, yes."

Reggie groaned and buried his face in his hands as Luxtra swatted him softly once more. Sensing his dropping mood, however, Luxtra made her way in front of him and forced her face against his hands. Reggie managed a soft chuckle.

"Love you too, girl." He then looked back at Amanda. "I'll think about it, alright?"

"Alright. Keep in touch."

"I'll try." And with that, Amanda walked off. Reggie got up and lead Luxtra inside, and the second they reached their condo Luxtra trotted around to show off her new collar. Blaze stroked her head before greeting Reggie.

"Welcome home."

"Thanks, Blaze. They're going to ban humans living in K'telle from returning home to their countries of origin." Blaze's jaw dropped this time.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No. I have about three days to decide if I stay or if I go."

"We're happy here, Reggie. You know you are too."

"I know...but my family is in the States, remember?"

"That's true..."

"I don't know what to do. I just don't know what to do."

Blaze walked over to Reggie and placed a claw on his chest.

"Follow your heart. Block out your mind and follow your heart."


	9. Heart to Heart, Part 1

Another shift complete, another meeting with Aturiel over something that Reggie could only guess at.

He thought it would be about his work that day. With the increased demand, he had to work at over twice his usual pace, which was straining to say the least. More than once Aturiel had come over simply to remind him that he needed to stay at the top of his game. Whereas these constant reminders were irritating, especially under the circumstances, he supposed it was necessary because of Reggie's recent roller coaster of emotion.

He was wrong, not that he minded. A long, drawling speech about his work day wouldn't do any good as it was. So when Aturiel began speaking of the war again, Reggie simply sat and listened. Even Aturiel needed to blow off steam, Reggie thought. He had emotions, and Reggie was certain that the only people who weren't affected by the war were heartless beasts.

"I have to admit, I'm surprised you haven't quit," said Aturiel suddenly.

"Oh?" Reggie sat up again. "Why would I quit?"

"With this increased demand, I have to admit that I didn't think you'd be able to keep up."

"Now, what did I tell you before," said Reggie with a smile. "I can keep up with the 'Two's, I just need to push myself even harder."

"Still, I worry about that. You're working much faster, it's true, but there's less margin for error at these speeds."

"I'll live, Aturiel. I have for this long."

"And I also wanted to apologize for your co-workers' behavior." This had caught Reggie off guard entirely.

"Wait, what?"

"I've seen the looks they've been giving you. And the thoughts, of course."

"So why should you apologize?"

"Because you haven't done anything to deserve that. You're a good, hard worker, you haven't done anything against us. They're just...prejudiced, I suppose, and anything that happens in this plant is still my responsibility."

"Makes sense. I appreciate it, Aturiel."

"I will be speaking with them one-on-one each, but I can't guarantee any changes."

"No need to worry about THAT much. I can deal with it."

"Still, I'm going to do something. At least then I can say I tried."

"Alright, I won't try to stop you. At least let me mention that I forgot about them entirely because of all the work comin' in."

"That's good. Doesn't break your ability to work at all. But if any send you telepathic messages, I want you to tell me right away, understand?"

"Sure thing," Reggie replied with a small laugh.

* * *

Reggie had gotten home minutes ago, finding himself thinking about the war all over again, as well as all the implications of such a monumental development.

But any thought of war had a thought of Kaira to combat it. Reggie found it hard to tell if he was happy or sad anymore. His biggest worry was still the same, the fear of losing Kaira. But he also wouldn't want to be a reason for her to hurt. With this upcoming war, things would indeed get nasty wherever he went, especially if he were to be seen with Kaira.

Reggie's thoughts were interrupted by the gentle electronic chiming of his condo's doorbell, someone had come to visit him.

He got up and walked over to the door. He rarely got visitors, which he didn't mind all that much, but he certainly wasn't against them. One quick peek through the peephole was all he needed to nearly jump back with surprise. It was Nolus. He quickly threw the door open. "Nolus! Nice to see you around!"

"Hi Reg, Kaira wanted me to deliver a message to you and I figured a face-to-face visit would be much less impersonal than using telepathy. Am I intruding on anything?"

"No, no, never. Come on in!" Reggie lead Nolus on in to the living room as he continued speaking. "I'm sorry I don't have anything set up, if I had known I woulda had some food ready."

"Heh, no need. I already ate. Anyway, Kaira wanted me to tell you that she has been doing some double shifts of guard duty at work ever since the declaration of war, and she hasn't been able to get away to come see you because of it."

Reggie nodded slowly. "I understand. I do miss her, I have to admit." Reggie began heading towards the kitchen area then. "Want anything?"

"I just said I just ate, silly!"

"Oh, sorry. My mind is all over today. What with the attacks and all..." Reggie began walking back towards the couch.

"Tell me about it! I'm the last person who'd want war for their country and look what happened! That surprise attack was brutal, and if I had tried to keep the peace after that in the face of the public's outrage then I'd be screamed out of my leadership position"

"Well, as much as I'm for peace and all, I do think they deserve something like a warning, y'know? It wasn't right, what they did. It had me outraged as well!"

"Yeah, I understand. But I'm worried that we're getting caught in a massive cycle of escalation. My brothers are building a fleet of warships now, which is exactly what the UHN were afraid of us doing when we built the Alchemical Furnace." Nolus said, stress evident in his tone.

"So, in essence, your brothers are going to 'prove the UHN right' and feed their fear all in one blow." Reggie strokes his temples lightly. "Not a good move..."

"I tried to vote against it, but they had a 3-1 majority against me, and the public approves. They're afraid now, and they want a fleet to defend us, not just those cannons and siege shields. It's a real mess, let me tell you."

"Majority votes...I suppose I can see the need for defense, but it's only gonna be water on the burning gas." Suddenly Kip bounded towards Reggie, Tiger not far behind. Kip hid behind one of his legs while Tiger barked and did laps around Reggie. "Behave, you two, I'm trying to talk here."

Nolus grinned when he saw how much Reg's team loved him. "You know, it's easy to gauge a person based on how Pokemon act around him. You must treat your guardians very well!"

Reggie chuckled. "They're not so much guardians as they are family." Tiger gave up on chasing Kip and turned his attention to Nolus. The Growlithe began sniffing at his feet and legs, occasionally tripping over his own feet.

"Kaira told me a little about them, in between pouring on the praise about you of course! You've obviously made quite an impression on her!"

Reggie suddenly went wide-eyed with excitement. "She talks about me? How often? What does she say?"

"Only that she thinks you're the sweetest human in K'telle! I can't get her to shut up about you whenever I talk to her!"

"Wow!" Reggie was suddenly ecstatic, despite the ominous tones used when the conversation had begun. "That's...definitely wonderful to know! Oh! Nolus! I have to tell you something!"

"Sure, I'm listening!"

"Kaira invited to take me sightseeing, right? So we go to see the Furnace, which was INCREDIBLE, mind you," Reggie said, speaking very quickly, nary a breath taken between thoughts, "so we see the Furnace and she gets this idea!"

"Oh? What kind of idea?" Nolus asked, suddenly seeming much more interested.

"So she tells me we're gonna go space walking, alright? I thought it was just gonna be around and on the shuttle, but I was dead-wrong! She wrapped us in a bubble so we wouldn't die a horrible death and she took us just outside the Blue River!" Reggie had his arms spread wide now, mimicking any motion he could. "So we take off alongside the River, right? Just BLASTING past the stations!" He punched through the air as he spoke, emphasizing the effect of the River.

"Is there any chance that she took you down through the atmosphere after that?"

"Yes! She did just that! It was AMAZING, Nolus! I couldn't stop laughing! And...well, it's kind of silly, really..."

"It's not silly at all! Didn't she tell you why she wanted to do it?"

Reggie looked up, unable to stop smiling as the thoughts of that day flooded his memories. "No, she didn't. I missed something somewhere, didn't I?"

"Only the fact that atmosphere jumping has been a traditional K'tellian courtship ritual since the very first couple got together at the start of the society 55 years ago!"

Reggie's smile faded slightly, as he almost fell onto the couch, both hands on his forehead. "Oh my word..."

"If she volunteered to take you out for that, that means she really wants to get serious with you, though the fact that she didn't tell you means she's probably a little too shy to tell you. Usually this is only a few steps away from a marriage proposal!"

Reggie laughed slightly, both hands still in place. "Nolus, my man?"

"Yeah?"

"I doubt you'd have a problem, but I'm asking anyway: I hope you don't mind that I love your daughter."

"Of course I don't mind, remember I said so when Kaira brought you over before! And she obviously loves you just as much if she took you on the atmosphere jump!"

Reggie sat up in one swift motion, tapping Nolus's shoulder out of pure excitement. "Nolus...would it be wrong for the male to invite the female to do that? Or is that something only a female can initiate?

"It's completely independent of gender, but you should be careful, usually the one who initiates is the one to create and maintain the air bubble. One partner shows the other that they can trust them completely, even with their life, when they're in their hands. So you can invite her, but you'll have to ask her to make the bubble again since you don't have any psychic powers."

Reggie thought for a moment, rubbing his chin. "I guess it might still mean the same...it at least shows that I do trust her with my life. And after the ride, I can tell her that I know what it means, it'd be funny seeing her reaction then."

"It's up to you how fast you want to go with her Reg, but from what I can tell from her constant praise of you and the space dive, she'd be more than happy to settle in with you."

Reggie then smacked his forehead--almost violently. "That reminds me...I've also got a few difficulties."

"If you mean the war, I'm sure that what a few anti-human thinkers say won't be enough to deter Kaira!"

Reggie shook his head slowly. "No, no. I mean Amanda. And about home."

"Who's Amanda?" Nolus asked with a tinge of suspicion.

"Amanda is my ex," Reggie replied, a hint of disgust in his voice.

Nolus nodded knowingly, frowning a bit. "I assume she just tried to get you to come back?"

"That's right. I turned her down though, but she brought up a good point recently. About the UHN and that ban."

"Oh, you're worried that your home nation is going to get involved in the war and this will mean you won't be able to get back home. You're from the US right?"

Reggie nodded slowly. "My blood family is down there. In all honesty, I wanna stay here, I wanna be with Kaira. But I still worry about my family."

"I understand, it's hard to leave your family. If you'll believe me, it actually took 10 years after K'telle was founded before Kaira moved out of my home...And maybe I shouldn't have said that." Nolus said, suddenly blushing a little.

Reggie chuckled lightheartedly. "No problem, really. But still, dealing with Amanda will be a pain. And what if Kaira finds out? She might assume the worst, and I'd lose her. I wouldn't be able to take that, not easily."

"Well I won't tell her, I promise. It's up to you to break it to her when you feel the time is right, but you'd better decide soon. The US has been threatening to get involved if we don't halt the construction of our fleet soon, and I can't convince anyone to stop it. I can't tell you what's best for you, but I can tell you that you're running out of time."

Reggie nodded slowly once again. "I understand. And I'd best tell Kaira about Amanda soon, hiding it won't do any good. But that still leaves the 'going home' dilemma. I don't want to leave... but then again I don't want to leave my family in the dust, so to speak."

Nolus suddenly frowned and was silent for a few moments. "I'm sorry to come and go so quickly, but some more political business has come up. Another UHN nation is demanding to speak with me and the rest of the brothers. Just remember what I told you alright? Kaira loves you."

Reggie smiled slightly. "Nolus, do me a favor. Tell her I love her too, please? If you aren't too busy, I mean."

"Of course. She should have only a normal shift tomorrow though, so be sure to tell her yourself too!" Nolus said, walking over to the door and teleporting away once he was outside.


	10. Heart to Heart, Part 2

Reg was on his way toward the stairs down to the train station from work when he heard Kaira's voice calling to him in the distance over the mumbling chatter of the crowd.

He quickly spun around, a smile growing on his face upon hearing her voice. "Kaira! Hey!"

She pushed her way through the crowd and hugged him for only a second to avoid them drawing attention. "Hey Reg, did Dad give you my message?"

Reggie nodded. "That he did. How was it?" He began tugging her along to the train. "Oh, you officially must visit my place now," he said with a chuckle.

Kaira quickly followed along and boarded the train with him. "I had the dullest last few days ever, I had to pull double shift at guard duty instead of doing healing because of that damned war. People haven't been mistreating you just because you're human have they?"

Reggie shook his head. "No, just some looks that could kill. Slight exaggeration. And honestly, I'm a bit worried about you even being seen around me. I don't want to drag you into the flames with me, Kaira, y'know?"

"If it means spending more time with you I'll take the flames any day. I tell you, I couldn't stop thinking about you all the time during my shifts, just standing there daydreaming."

Reggie blushed, but wiped his face clean of something that wasn't there to cover it up. "Well, I'm honored on two counts then. I've had that same 'problem'," he said, making finger quotes to go with the word. "Did he give you my message, or has he been busy?"

"No, I haven't heard from him for a good while, he's been doing marathon negotiation sessions with his brothers to try and keep the other remaining neutral nations out of the war. I haven't seen him since I asked him to give you my message."

Reggie chuckled. "This can be a good thing, then!"

"Well fill me in!" Kaira said, eager to hear what was making him so excited.

Reggie laughed suddenly, smiling wide. "Oh, not just yet. If he tells you beforehand, then fine, but this can be used for a surprise!"

"Oh fine! I guess I'll have to just wait and see then!" Kaira said and playfully gave him a light slug on the shoulder. "At least tell me how your last 2 days have been while I was busy!"

Reggie shook his head. "I'll explain it in detail once we get home...well, when I get home, however you'd wanna word that, but the gist of it is that it's not best to talk about it on the train."

* * *

Kaira followed Reg into his condo and waved gently to Blaze. "Hi Blaze!"

Blaze waved backed enthusiatically. "Hey Kaira! Nice to see you around again!"

"It's nice to be around that's for sure! Reg sure keeps a fine condo here, and his Pokemon aren't half bad either!"

Luxtra roared from the next room, apparently to emphasize her greatness. This caused a fit of laughter on Reggie's part, considering it was a full-fledged roar. "That was awesome," said Reggie, once he composed himself. "She doesn't do that often at all."

Reggie then composed himself and looked towards Blaze. "Hey, Blaze, can we have a moment?"

Blaze tilted his head quizzically, but nodded. "Sure. Want me to herd the masses to your room?"

"Sure, it'll keep us from being distracted." Blaze immediately hopped to work, having to pick up the ever-excited Growlithe and carry him to Reggie's room.

"Now then, fill me in!" Kaira said once the room was clear

"Well," Reggie began, pulling out a chair at the kitchen table for Kaira, "as I said, I'm gonna save the message as a surprise. But first, I wanna talk about us."

Kaira sat down across the table from him and took up a more serious demeanor. "Sure. Is something bothering you?"

Reggie nodded as he took his seat as well. "There's a lot bothering me about the last few days, but I want to let you know beforehand that you don't have to worry. I suppose it's just that I'M worried."

"I understand, this war is complicating things quite a bit. Maybe I can help you feel better?"

Reggie shook his head. "You'd relieve the worry I've got right now, but it would return. Save your energy, okay? It's just that I really am worried about what you may have to go through, first off. I know you said you'd deal with it for me, and it means a lot to me. But I'll still worry."

"I never really had that much of a reputation to begin with, and with you here the words will just slide off of me like a flamethrower attack on a Blastoise's shell. But what about you, can you handle it?"

Reggie smiled a bit. "That I can. I know I can take it. It's seeing you hurt that would be rough on me."

Kaira paused for a moment as if debating something internally before continuing. "Trust me, I can handle it."

Reggie nodded, smiling. "You're amazing," he said quietly, a relieved sigh following.

"I can sense you have something else on your mind though." Kaira said, reading his mind just a tiny bit.

Reggie nodded once again. "I do. Amanda is back."

Kaira turned a little bit pale and remained silent. She couldn't bring herself to even ask any further questions, she just jumped to a conclusion and gently hid her face in her hands. "Not this again..." She said quietly.

Reggie almost felt his own color disappear. "No, no no no, Kaira, listen. I thought I had gotten rid of her. She came back, and she wants me back. But you know what?"

Kaira slowly composed herself and looked back up at him, he could see that tears had started forming in her eyes. "What?"

That was very near too much for Reggie to bear. He got up out of his chair and very gently gripped her shoulders. "I told her no. I told her that I was taken. I'm not going anywhere."

Kaira stood up and pulled him in close for a hug, squeezing him tight enough to wind him a little bit. "Oh thank the Goddesses, I hoped I'd never have to lose someone again."

Reggie held her close for several minutes, once again wanting the moment to last forever. But after a few minutes he slowly backed himself up, taking both of her hands. "Kaira...what did happen?"

"I was involved with another 'Two about 55 years ago right before the founding of K'telle. Needless to say, it ended terribly." Kaira said, pain evident in her voice.

Reggie smiled, placing a hand on her cheek and kissing her forehead softly. "I'm here to stay. I promise you that."

"What is this, Reginald," came an all-too-familiar voice from the door. Reggie could only manage a sigh.

"Speak of the devil," he whipsered to Kaira.

Kaira blinked and turned around to see Amanda standing there and stepped back away from Reggie instinctively in surprise.

"So I guess you've decided then," said Amanda, slightly saddened but a hint of anger far from hidden.

"Amanda," began Reggie as he began to approach her slowly, "I told you I wasn't coming back."

Kaira didn't know what to say, she just stood back silently and tried to blend into the scenery while the scene played out.

"Reginald Sergei Thompson--"

"Amanda, knock that off," said Reggie, cutting her off. "You may be angry, but it's not like I lead you on. I TOLD you I wasn't coming back."

"So you'll pay for your own jet out of here, then? With what money, Reggie? You've got nothing!"

"I've got enough to live with, considering I'm NOT going back there either."

"What?" Amanda seemed appalled instantly, suddenly fully aware that she was losing control of everything.

"You heard me," Reggie said, getting closer to Amanda, and progressively angrier. "I'm not going back to the States. I like it here."

"What about your family, then?" Amanda spoke as if she was playing her trump card.

"See that over there," he asked, pointing at his Vid-phone in the corner. "Wonderful invention, those."

"Then who will love you? Until I came along, you had nobody!" Her tone remained the same, triumphant in some twisted manner.

A sudden burst of bravery filled Kaira and she stepped forward. "I will, and I'll give him more in 3 days than you could in the weeks you knew him!"

Amanda found herself fumbling for words now. Reggie had turned to look at Kaira, then slowly turned back to Amanda as he spoke. "You and I, Amanda... we wouldn't have gone far. We were nothing more than friends," he said, now speaking apologetically. "I'm sorry, but I can easily see a future with Kaira. I care for her. And if you can't accept that, then you may as well just leave now and never speak to me again. I won't put up with someone who can't accept that we're happy."

Amanda immediately turned on her heel. "Goodbye then, Reggie."

"Goodbye, Amanda."

Amanda stepped outside of his condo for the last time, Reggie whispering "good riddance" as the doors slid shut behind her.

"Wow... what a bitch!" Kaira noted casually.

Reggie laughed slightly as he turned back to face her. "And you were worried when I mentioned her name."

"Well I suffered for a long time after my last rejection, and to be honest I couldn't help but feel scared about it happening again over the last few days."

Reggie nodded slowly. "I understand, Kaira. Now, unless I'm missing something, that conquers the problems I've been having. Is there anything you need to talk about?"

Kaira sighed heavily and sat back down in her chair. "Besides the scare you gave me? No, not really. It's going to take a bit for me to get those nasty memories reburied in my subconscious again.

Reggie smiled and stood next to her for a couple of seconds before speaking. "What about the relationship you had earlier? I've learned that the best way to cope is to get it off of your chest. Maybe I can help?"

"I don't want to burden you with my past stupidities..." Kaira said quietly, not putting up that much resistance.

Reggie chuckled. "Alright, let me put it this way then, Kaira: You've helped me IMMENSELY back at the Sanctum. Let me help you this time. Please?"

Kaira took one more heavy sigh. "Oh alright. Can I get a glass of water please?"

"Of course." Reggie walked over and filled a glass up before placing it on the table for her. "Anything else, M'dear," he asked with a silly smile.

"Just promise me you won't laugh at how stupid I was!" Kaira asked before taking a big drink.

"I'm only allowed to laugh at my own stupidity. You're safe."

Kaira took a few more gulps of water before setting the glass down half empty and beginning her story. "It started when I was a naive and impressionable 17 year old kid. I developed this massive one-sided crush on a 'Two from Lord Cygnus's family. I hardly ever even talked to him, but I was absolutely smitten with him."

Reggie nodded, smiling still. "I actually find that cute."

"I kept my secret for almost a whole year, and when I finally told him he said he'd love to get to know me better and to see where things went. I went nuts, obsessing over him every moment of every single day and getting more and more infatuated while He only really seemed casually interested. I should have seen it coming there but I was so blinded by my feelings that I let it come right up to me and hit me in the face."

Reggie sighed quietly and gripped her hand gently. "Like I told Nolus before; we make mistakes and we learn and move on."

"We were out on the dumplands cleaning out the pollution to make way for K'telle when I finally discovered it. Lord Opulous had us all linked together to streamline our work when I heard him telepathically whispering sweet nothings to someone else, and that someone else was my sister Jeselle no less!"

He cringed inwardly. "Yea, wow. That's just...ow..."

"He told me that he was never really interested in me in the first place either, and had been involved with Jeselle even before I told him how I felt."

"So he basically lead you on just for the attention."

"Just because it made him feel big to have more than one girl fawning over him!" Kaira said disgustedly. "And the worst part is that my sister refused to do anything once the secret was out. She told me she loved him too much to break up with him just for me."

Reggie shook his head slowly. "Makes me wanna beat him senseless."

"Heh, and you know, I almost did something even worse than that." Kaira said, flinching at the memories.

"Do I wanna know," asked Reggie in good humor.

"I chased him down and stabbed him in the shoulder with a psychic energy blade. I would have done more if dad and his brothers hadn't stopped me!"

Reggie laughed but stopped himself. "Oh WOW, I'm glad I'm on your good side!"

"Heh, I would never do that now. I was young and foolish back then, and I learned the hard way to never do that again."

Reggie nodded. "Still, it's better to be on your good side. If you left me it'd be much worse than an energy blade in my heart." He hugged her close once again, stroking her back slowly.

Kaira hugged him back and kept speaking, "And you know what the worst part was?"

"No, what?"

"The brothers decided that I was too emotionally volatile after the breakup, so they ruled that I should have 5 years to cool down without my psychic powers so that I wouldn't abuse them again."

Reggie cringed once again. "I can see how that would be one hell of a sentence."

"I can't tell you how humiliating it was. Everyone was out using their psychic powers to build our society from the ground up, and I had to stay home and watch, taking bureaucratic paper pushing for my first job. You can't imagine the jeers and taunts."

"Well," said Reggie as he finally pulled back, "Someone has to make up for all that at some point. And I may be the man for the job."

"It'll be pretty hard for you to be any worse than Aturiel was, that's for sure!" Kaira said, rolling her eyes.

Suddenly the smile fell off of his face in a blink, both of his hands more-or-less flopping to his sides. "Who? WHO did this?"

"Aturiel Kesta. Why, do you know him?"

Reggie sighed and brushed his hair back slowly. "He's my supervisor at

Montalbo..."

"No way!" Kaira said, her eyes bugging out a little bit.

"Yea, 'fraid so. I gotta put up with him often... and to think, I thought he was a good guy..."

"I haven't seen him in so many years... maybe he's changed?"

"Well," he began, "it's possible. But still, it'll be hard for me to FULLY enjoy his company after learning what he did."

"Don't you go getting yourself fired from your job just because me now alright?"

"Not without a backup job," laughed Reggie. "But honestly, I don't mind it there. I won't get myself fired. Just because you asked so nicely," he added with a smile.

Suddenly they heard what must have been a very short kind of scream from Blaze as groups of paws trampled their way down the stairs led by one louder set. In a matter of seconds it was Reggie's turn to scream as he was flattened by his whole team, excepting Blaze.

"Looks like they got tired of waiting for us!" Kaira said with a laugh, bending over the huge pile of Pokemon with the human at the bottom.

"Seems that way," replied Reggie in a hilariously strained voice as Luxtra sat on his stomach. "Guys! Breathing would be WONDERFUL right about now!"


End file.
